Why Beach was 'surprised' by late-game substitution

Australia’s FIFA World Cup campaign came to a dramatic end, falling short to Egypt in a penalty shootout riddled with storylines.

Much of the attention was directed towards the Socceroos’ penalty takers, with central defenders Harry Souttar and 18-year-old Lucas Herrington stepping up ahead of Australia’s attackers within the do-or-die shootout.

And in a storyline just as dramatic, Australia’s breakout superstar keeper Patrick Beach was remarkably withdrawn from the game at the death, bringing in veteran Maty Ryan in his place to face the music from the spot.

Unfortunately for Ryan, the keeper was not able to impact, with Egypt bagging four from four from the spot to advance to the Round of 16.

When asked if he was surprised by Tony Popovic’s decision, Beach admitted that it wasn’t a pre-determined call that he was aware of, but it also wasn’t one he was willing to question.

“Yes and no,” Beach told Tom Morris on SEN's Whateley.

“When you’re in the moment, you’re not even really thinking about that, so in that aspect, yeah.

“But I knew, once I saw my number shown that there was obviously a discussion behind this and there was a plan.

“I understood that straight away. I had no other thoughts, just ran off, gave Maty all the best and was then cheering the boys on from the sidelines.”

While it appeared that an obvious tactic orchestrated by Popovic was at play, Beach himself was not made aware that the change was coming, with no indication throughout the week to suggest that Ryan would be preferred if a shootout was to occur.

“I didn’t hear anything about the sub at any point leading up to the game or during the game at all,” he said.

“Obviously, I found out about it at the same time that you guys did as well. As I said, just saw the number up and reacted, went off and cheered the boys on from there.”

Despite Australia falling short on penalties, Beach confirmed that it’s something that the side trained regularly in the lead-up to the match, with Popovic previously confirming that the order of takers was pre-determined.

“It’s something that the boys practiced a fair bit,” he said.

“Especially the week leading up to the Egypt game because obviously, (the knockouts) started going to extra time and penalties.

“We definitely practiced it many times, very consistently, and the boys were doing a great job with that.

“When it came down to knockout games, that’s when we definitely started practicing a lot more.”

Beyond the shootout itself, Beach had an incredible tournament, starring for the Socceroos across his four starts on the world stage.

And despite a bright future ahead and interest from abroad bound to arrive in the coming years, Beach is remaining solely focused on his commitment to Melbourne City.

“For me at the moment, I’ll definitely be looking forward to having a few weeks off,” he said.

“I’ve still got two more years left with Melbourne City of course – I think every player dreams to be at the highest levels in their careers.

“I guess we will just wait and see over the next month or so what happens, but as I said, I’ve got two more years left at Melbourne.”

Listen to Beach's full interview with Tom Morris below: