SOCCEROOS LOOK TO MAKE THEIR OWN MEMORIES IN ASIAN CUP

MAT Ryan might never again be more grateful for two inches of paint.

Had Omar Al-Somah’s free-kick snuck inside the base of the upright instead of ricocheting off its outer edge that night in October, 2017, it would have spelled an inglorious end to the Socceroos’ campaign to qualify for a fourth successive World Cup.

Until that moment, in the dying seconds of extra-time at ANZ Stadium, Australia had done just enough to secure passage to a final playoff against Honduras.

Tim Cahill defied age and logic in a 120-minute shift to score a brace – his final international goals – and give Australia a 2-1 lead in the match and 3-2 on aggregate in the two-leg tie.

Another Syria goal would have sent the Socceroos packing and themselves one step closer to a scarcely believable maiden World Cup.

So when Al-Somah, the man who had netted his country’s early opener, stepped up for a free-kick some 30m out, the 42,000 in attendance collectively held their breath.

What they didn’t know was that an overpacked wall had left Australia’s goalkeeper blind to his challenge.

“I was a little bit frustrated by the fact that, if I remember correctly, Tomi Juric came back into the wall but in our sheets before the game and what we had practised he wasn’t meant to be there,” Ryan said.

“We ended up having one too many in the wall than I wanted, and therefore my sight of the ball was blocked.

“I remember trying to yell to get one out of the wall so my position in the goal was perfectly right.

“But it was getting close to taking the free-kick and they couldn’t hear me with all the commotion, so I saw the ball later than I wanted to.

“I still reacted and did my best to make the save. I know I was close to it. If it was on target I don’t know if I had it covered.

“They were really relentless in their performance that day ... that game went right down to the wire.”

For Mark Milligan, it’s a memory still fraught with angst, even if he didn’t realise what was on the line at the time.

“We didn’t know if that went in, that was it,” Milligan said. “It seems a lot closer, once we found out. I’ve been trying to forget that for a while.”

He will have no choice but to relive it when the two countries meet again in another high-stakes encounter that could come down to similarly small margins.

The Socceroos need at least a draw tonight in Al Ain to automatically advance to the Asian Cup’s knockout stages. Syria must take all three points.

Milligan has learnt that this Syria team – a big chunk of its playoff squad is at the tournament – does not lack intensity.

He remembers Australia playing well in the first leg in neutral Malaysia, in draining humidity and on a slow surface made of local cow grass that felt so bushy underfoot it reminded him of “little palm trees”. But this is different.

“In a one-off game you can’t leave anything in the tank,’’ he said. “You have to go out and show all your cards.”