In only his third cap, the 33-year-old’s odd penalty antics guided Australia to the World Cup – and now he’s ‘the Dancing Goalie’
INTERVIEW
When did you find out that you’d be coming on for Mat Ryan – Australia’s captain and No.1 – if June’s play-off against Peru went to a shootout?
About six weeks prior. I’d worked with Australia’s goalkeeping coach, John Crawley, at club level and we often talk. At the end of a phonecall, he said, “Get ready to save a penalty, mate”, then hung up. I told my wife – she said, “Maybe you’re coming on if there’s a shootout?” The idea got padded out once I was in camp for the play-offs.
And you had to keep it a secret?
[Laughs] Yeah, that was tough! I had to tell someone in the camp, so my team-mate, Joel King, knew – and my mum knew and my wife knew – but none of the other boys did.
You do a lot of dancing on the line before the kick. When did that begin?
I had a dreadful record with penalties before 2018-19. John Crawley was my goalkeeper coach at Sydney FC then, and we came up with something to rectify things: a bit of movement – or dancing, as it’s been termed – to distract the taker. It’s become a lot more flamboyant over time! I did it in a shootout in the A-League Grand Final that season, we won, and my record has been pretty good since.
Had you seen Jerzy Dudek’s moves? Though yours are more extreme…
Yeah, I distinctly remember Dudek in the Champions League final. I got up at 4am in Australia to watch the game and see him do his thing.
Do you use those dance moves at nightclubs, too?
[Laughs] No chance! I’m the guy who sits quietly in the corner with a beer…
So, coming on as a substitute in the 120th minute of a World Cup play-off – how did that feel?
Nervy. The fourth official put up two or three minutes of added time and I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be an eternity’, because I wasn’t fully warmed up. I was dreading anything in or around the box.
Australia’s first penalty was saved. Soon afterwards, you covertly found the Peru goalkeeper’s water bottle, with notes on which way to dive, and threw it over the barrier…
[Laughs] We’d done our research, too: we had a drinks bottle and said that if it was found, they would 100 per cent discard it into the crowd, never to be seen again. So, when I saw that he had notes, I thought, ‘It’s us or them – our friends and family off to a World Cup, or theirs’. It went against every moral fibre in my body, but I’m glad I did it.
Australia scored every penalty after that. Luis Advincula hit the post for Peru, then after a few twirls and a squat ju
