Alameda: Connor Metcalfe can barely remember any of the details – mostly just the vibes, and they weren’t good: the stifling heat; the towering stature of their opponents; and an awful sinking feeling as Australia’s Olympic dream slipped away.
Five years ago, Graham Arnold’s Olyroos stood 90 minutes away from a rare quarter-final appearance at an Olympic Games.
The national men’s under-23s team had arrived in Tokyo with a belief they could become the first Australian soccer side to win a medal – and by producing a huge 2-0 upset over Argentina just six days earlier, they proved to the world that they deserved to be taken seriously.
In their final group game, they needed just a draw against Egypt to advance to the quarter-finals.
But they were already spent, and suspensions for three key players asked even more of a squad playing its third game in a week and running low on energy. The Pharaohs ran out dominant and deserved 2-0 winners, scoring a goal in each half.
“It actually feels like a blur, to be honest,” Metcalfe said. “They were quite a big, physical team. I just remember it being really humid and hot, and we didn’t play our best game.
“They ruined our dream. I guess you could say it’s [Saturday] a bit of a revenge, personally.”
The opportunity for that square up comes at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday (4am, AEST) in the first knockout round of this World Cup.
Metcalfe is one of three members of that Olyroos squad who have made it to this tournament – along with midfielder Cameron Devlin, who is yet to see any minutes, and Harry Souttar, who has worn the captain’s armband in all three games so far.
But the Pharaohs won’t necessarily have the physical advantage this time around.
Egyptian media is already sounding warnings about the threats posed at set pieces by Souttar and the rest of Australia’s tall timber in defence. That’s when they’re not sweating about the fitness of captain Mohamed Salah, who is in doubt with a hamstring injury.
Salah, who is a free agent at club level after the expiry of his long-running contract at Liverpool, is not Egypt’s only injury concern.
Defenders Ahmed Fatouh (hamstring) and Mohamed Abdelmonem (ankle) have already been ruled out of the round of 32 clash, the latter after being forced off in the 14th minute of their 1-1 draw with Iran.
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic and his coaching staff are yet to loop the players in on their specific tactical plan for Egypt, but from what Metcalfe has seen – and from his previous experience – they will be quite a handful.
Metcalfe, 26, was gripped by the finish to Egypt’s final group stage game, in which Iran had a late winner – which would have secured a clash with the Socceroos instead – ruled out due to a fractional offside decision picked up by the VAR.
He anticipates their approach could play right into the hands of the Socceroos.
“That game against Iran was pretty hectic at the end,” Metcalfe said.
“We know the quality they’ve got, and we got to watch them play a bit, so we understand how they play and their mentality and their willingness on and off the ball. I’d say it could suit us, the way we set up. We’re pretty good off the counter [attack], so I think it could shock them a little bit.
“We haven’t gone into that much detail, we’ve only seen the glimpse of the Iran game at the end, and that was just chaotic. We have to do a lot more research on that.”
On paper, the Socceroos have as good a chance as they have ever had in a World Cup knockout match. FIFA’s world rankings, which put Egypt at No.26 in the world and Australia just two spots behind, suggest there is little between the two nations.
But, as always, most foreign pundits give them little chance – and that’s the way they like it.
“We thrive as being the underdogs – I feel like we always have,” said Metcalfe, who was sporting three fresh stitches under his eyebrow after being split open by an opponent’s stray boot in the 0-0 draw with Paraguay that clinched their knockout berth.
“Whatever the odds are, it doesn’t bother us. Against Paraguay, we showed that we can dominate a game with the ball – I think it was probably our best performance with the ball, we were calm.
“We’ll be aiming to do the same thing, and we’re always going to have the exact same mentality, so nothing’s going to change.”
