AUSSIE DROOLS
Irvine couldn’t believe he shared pitch with ‘greatest player’ of all
AT 35, Lionel Messi knows this is his last opportunity to win a World Cup. When it comes to removing the final asterisk against his name, it’s now or never.
Like Diego Maradona in 1986, Messi might have to win it for Argentina by himself. Australia were arguably the better team in Saturday’s last-16 clash until the little maestro waved his wand and the sparks began to fly.
In economic terms, Graham Arnold’s starting XI had no right to be on the same pitch as Argentina. Watching Aziz Behich of Dundee United almost score a wonder goal attested to that.
Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez could command a fee worth more than the entire Socceroos team combined. A £15million Manchester City attacker, Julian Alvarez, scored Argentina’s second goal in their 2-1 win.
But former City defender Pablo Zabaleta fears his homeland were overly reliant on talisman Messi against the Aussies. His value to a team scheduled to face the Netherlands in the last eight is incalculable.
One of Australia’s great reliables, meanwhile, has been a man who began his career as a youth player at Celtic. Jackson Irvine went on to play for Kilmarnock, Ross County and Hibs as well as Burton Albion and Hull City. He now plays for struggling St Pauli in Germany’s second tier. Sharing a pitch with Messi, he concedes, was ‘surreal’. Watching him score from almost nothing even more so.
‘For a player like myself, who has never played at the highest level domestically, it was probably the only chance we will ever get to share the pitch with Messi — arguably the greatest player of all time,’ said Irvine.
‘Obviously it’s a bit surreal, but it’s a moment to reflect on at the end of the tournament, I guess. A moment to look back on and say: “I got to play with one of the greatest”.
‘He picks and chooses his moments of when to come to life. When he does, it’s hard to stop.
‘We controlled him so well throughout most of the first half. We were playing really well and then it’s that one little moment, that one half-metre you give him in the box. We’ve seen it hundreds of times and he is so ruthless, so clinical. Ultimately that was the difference.’
On the back of four impressive displays in Qatar, Kye Rowles is becoming a shrewd piece of transfer business for Hearts. Pitched in against a genius, however, he was exposed to a level of explosive ruthlessness not often witnessed in the Scottish Premiership.
‘You just can’t switch off against the best players in the world,’ said the 24-year-old. ‘You think you are doing a good job on Messi and then he pops up and puts one in the bottom corner through about three sets of legs.’
To their credit, Australia refused to bow down at the altar of a footballing god. Despite a blunder from keeper Mat Ryan gifting the second goal to Alvarez, they struck back with 13 minutes to play through a deflected Craig Goodwin strike and had chances to take the game to extra-time.
‘At half-time we fully believed we would progress,’ added Irvine. ‘We still thought we had enough to win the game.
‘We knew we would score because we have scored in every other game so far and we scored again here.
‘Aziz Behich then had a great run which would have been goal of the tournament stuff if he had managed to put it in.
‘It was a fantastic block (on him). They defended with desperation when they had to and it was a world-class save from (Emiliano) Martinez at the end as well to prevent extra-time. I’ve seen the replays and he actually gets a hand to it for a fantastic save. In those key moments, we pushed them all the way.’
The first Australia squad to reach the last-16 since 2006 leave Qatar with memories to treasure. Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin claimed Messi’s shirt for posterity.
After the experience of a lifetime, however, St Mirren midfielder Keanu Baccus also wants to repay club boss Stephen Robinson for giving him the platform to play in a World Cup finals at the age of 24.
Leaving Western Sydney Wanderers to switch to Paisley in June, the move was a gamble for both sides. It paid off when Baccus started the game of his life against Argentina. ‘St Mirren told me I was the first player they’ve had come to a World Cup,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘It’s a long, long way from Scotland — and I am sure they were all watching and are all proud of me and Australia.
‘It’s amazing for me personally and I’m so pleased for the club as well. They took a chance on me taking me over there and I took a chance going as well.
‘I had to prove myself and the club has been so positive for me. The move has worked out well for both sides, I hope.
‘Credit to the gaffer, he showed tremendous faith in me and I really want to return the favour now the World Cup is over.’
With the heady excitement of facing the world’s best in world-class conditions now over, Hearts defender Rowles will take time to decompress before turning his mind back to the slightly brutal reality of a meeting with Kilmarnock in the Premiership.
‘I will probably get three or four days, then go straight back in,’ he admitted. ‘Hopefully I can build on the performances at the World Cup and take that back to Hearts.’