Zlatan’s message to shattered Herrington
-Arlington: A few hours after the worst moment of his short career to date, Lucas Herrington received a message of support from an unlikely source: it was none other than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who spoke to him directly via Fox Sports cameras.
“You’re 18 years old. You’re young. This is just the beginning of your career,” the legendary Swedish striker said in the post-match coverage of the Socceroos’ shocking penalty shoot-out defeat to Egypt.
“You show great courage if you step in there. Not everyone does that. Dude, you’re the best. Don’t listen to the rest.”
“A penalty is a lottery. It’s not easy to go out there, to score the penalty, and it’s a one-second moment. It either goes well or it doesn’t.” [doesn’t].
“Herrington, if you want to reach me, I’m here.”
There is probably no combination of words that can ease the pain Herrington felt after missing a penalty in Dallas and will continue to feel for some time to come. But it certainly didn’t hurt.
“I’m probably the first person to put myself down and be hard on myself,” he said.
“It means a lot to hear that from a legend of the game. I will continue to work hard and hopefully a moment like this will come for me too.”
Classic Herrington indeed. It would be difficult to find a more sane and mature response to such intense heartbreak – especially from a teenager who has only been playing professional football for less than two years and has been on the international stage for a few months.
But that’s normal from this kid.
That’s exactly why Socceroos coach Tony Popovic and his teammates didn’t blink twice when told Herrington would take the team’s fourth penalty. This penalty hit the top of the crossbar and went out.
This was their last too; Hossam Abdelmaguid’s subsequent spot-kick for Egypt clinched their first World Cup qualifying win – and Australia’s disappointing exit.
While the debate swirled domestically over whether Popovic was right to put an 18-year-old defender so high on the penalty list, the rest of the team jumped to Herrington’s defense.
Jackson Irvine was one of the first to put his arm around Herrington as he walked from the penalty area towards the rest of the pack, before the Socceroos’ fate was sealed.
“There aren’t many words you can say to a player in that moment. It was just to let him know we were there… to look him in the eye and embrace him and know that that’s what this team is about. It’s a team first,” he said.
“And it’s not about any one player at any given moment. It takes incredible steel for him to step up in that moment.”
Nestory Irananunda said he was “super proud” of Herrington. Connor Metcalfe said that “it wasn’t even a mistake… it went into the top corner”. Ajdin Hrustic tipped him to come back stronger.
Awer Mabil said: “Keep going man. We’re all in this together. Everything will be okay.”
Alessandro Circati, who would have taken Australia’s last penalty had it come to that, said he wished Herrington had taken another penalty within a month and would have scored just to erase the memory.
“It’s not easy. If you step in, the only person who can miss is you,” he said. “It’s all part of the game.”
Popovic, on the other hand, could not imagine that anyone would blame him. “Who does this?” he said.
“I don’t think it really matters, I don’t think the players will see any of it and we certainly won’t either. I’m not interested in anyone who can do that.”
Harry Souttar, who scored Australia’s first penalty at AT&T Stadium, would have known better than any other Socceroo how Herrington felt. He was still trying to come to terms with his own miss, which contrasted with another typically outstanding performance from him defensively.
“I’m devastated,” the glassy-eyed Souttar said.
“I miss it. It’s something like that. Frankly, I know the responsibility you have to take one. I miss it. I can’t go back and change it. I brought a lot to the game. I felt really good going into the game. It wasn’t like that. It’s very depressing to go out like that.”
But Souttar wasn’t surprised to see Herrington step up; He gained such respect by watching him spend the previous 120 minutes shutting out Mohamed Salah.
“You already knew he was going to go; like the 18-year-old guy, nothing surprised him,” he said.
What would have surprised Souttar was that he let it get him down.
“Experiencing this at this age will allow him to become even stronger,” he said.
“The guy has been incredible. He points to one of the best wingers we’ve seen in the last 10 years. He’s been incredible. I’m not worried it will affect him in any way. He’ll just grow and definitely get stronger.”
Time will tell what this process will look like for Herrington, at least in the short term. Barcelona’s interest in him will intensify after this World Cup; Coincidentally, this is one of Ibrahimovic’s former clubs.
But Herrington said the most important thing was the support of his teammates. I don’t mean any disrespect to Zlatan.
“It gives me confidence to keep working hard,” he said.
“I know my team has my back and this is just one of those moments that did not go our way. We will continue to work and prepare for the next World Cup.”
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