Connor Metcalfe eyes revenge for Tokyo Olympics heartbreak in World Cup knockout clash
– Alameda: Connor Metcalfe can barely remember any of the details; mostly just the vibrations, and they weren’t good either: stifling heat; the high structure of its competitors; and a terrible sinking feeling as Australia’s Olympic dream evaporates.
Five years ago Graham Arnold’s Olyroos were 90 minutes away from a rare quarter-final appearance at the Olympic Games.
The men’s national under-23 team had arrived in Tokyo with the belief that they could become Australia’s first football team to win a medal, and just six days ago they proved to the world that they deserved to be taken seriously with a massive 2-0 defeat against Argentina.
In their final group match, they needed just a draw against Egypt to advance to the quarter-finals.
But these were already exhausted and suspensions for three key players took more than a team playing their third game in a week and running low on energy. The Pharaohs dominated and scored a goal in each half to deserve a 2-0 victory.
“It actually feels like a blur, to be honest,” Metcalfe said. “They were a pretty big, physical team. I just remember it being very humid and hot and we didn’t play our best game.
“They ruined our dream. I guess you could say: [Saturday] A little personal revenge.”
That challenge comes in the first qualifying round of the World Cup on Saturday (4am AEST) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Metcalfe is one of three members of the Olyroos team who managed to qualify for this tournament; Midfielder Cameron Devlin, who has not seen any minutes yet, and Harry Souttar, who has worn the captain’s band in all three matches so far.
But the Pharaohs won’t necessarily have the physical advantage this time.
Egyptian media are already warning about the defensive threats posed by Souttar and Australia’s remaining longwoods. That’s when they are sweating over the fitness of captain Mohamed Salah, who is a doubt with a hamstring injury.
Salah, who became a free agent at club level after his long-running contract at Liverpool expired, is not Egypt’s only injury concern.
Defenders Ahmed Fatouh (hamstring) and Mohamed Abdelmonem (ankle) were ruled out of the round of 32 clash after being sent off in the 14th minute of their 1-1 draw with Iran.
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic and his coaching staff have yet to include the players in their specific tactical plans for Egypt, but from what Metcalfe has seen and his previous experience, they will be quite capable.
Metcalfe, 26, was focused on the finish of Egypt’s final group stage match; Iran’s late winner – which would have guaranteed a clash with the Socceroos – was ruled out due to a partial offside call by VAR.
He predicts their approach could play into the hands of the Socceroos.
“The end of the game against Iran was pretty exciting,” Metcalfe said.
“We know the quality they have and we’ve got to watch them play a bit, so we understand how they play, their mentality and their willingness on and off the ball. “I’d say the way we’re set up could suit us. We’re pretty good off the bench. [attack]so I think it might shock them a little bit.
“We didn’t go into too much detail, we just saw a glimpse of the Iran game at the end and it was absolutely chaotic. We need to do a lot more research on that.”
On paper, the Socceroos have as good a chance as they have in World Cup qualifying. The FIFA world rankings, which put Egypt at 26th in the world rankings and Australia just two places behind, show that there is little difference between the two countries.
But as always, most foreign experts give them little chance, and they like it that way.
“We’re improving as the underdog – I feel like we always have,” said Metcalfe, who received three new stitches under his eyebrow after being cut open by an opponent’s stray shoe in the 0-0 draw with Paraguay.
“Whatever the odds are, it doesn’t bother us. We showed against Paraguay that we can dominate with the ball – I think that was probably our best performance with the ball, we were calm.
“We will aim to do the same thing and always have the same mentality, so nothing will change.”
