ARLINGTON, TEXAS -- Amidst the pain of their FIFA World Cup elimination, Socceroos players have vowed to channel their anguish towards January's AFC Asian Cup and beyond.
Australia's men saw their World Cup campaign end in heartbreaking fashion on Friday, falling in a penalty shootout to Egypt after 120 minutes of football ended with the scores locked at 1-1 -- marking the third time that the side had reached the knockout stages of the tournament, only to fall at the next hurdle.
In a back-and-forth contest in which both sides had their moments, the Socceroos couldn't find a way to convert their periods of control into goals across the contest, with Mohamed Hany's own-goal meaning it's been more than five hours since an Australian last put the ball in their opponent's net.
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"It hurts," a glum Ajdin Hrustic said. "If you get dominated and you lose two or three to nil or whatever, you accept it, you shower, you get yourself home, right? If you lose like this, it hurts. It hurts."
Nestory Irankunda made his third start of the tournament against the Egyptians, and while his own global profile has only continued to rise throughout the World Cup, with newly promoted Premier League side Hull City reportedly having a £10 million bid for his services rejected by Watford -- he was dejected at the way things ended.
"I always believed, and to get knocked out now is really disappointing, because I thought we could have achieved more," Irankunda said. "I thought we could have gone further. I had the belief in all the players. It's just disappointing, and I feel like that's the bar -- playing in the knockouts, that's where Australia should be.
"We should be pushing for more than that ... It's disappointing, and I feel like we can do better."
Cristian Volpato, for his part, made a second-consecutive start against Egypt, having only arrived in Socceroos camp on the eve of the tournament after his shock switch from Italy. Come the end of the World Cup, however, the Sassuolo attacker left no doubt as to his commitment or belief in the Socceroos' future.
"It's hard for a game to be decided on penalties," Volpato said. "It's a 50-50 chance, and, unluckily, we lost. I'm just so proud of the boys and staff, the nation, everyone, because you know we gave it our all to the very end, and unfortunately, we can lose on penalties; it can happen. "We've just got to keep our heads high, and because we've got a bright future."
While the Socceroos will need to wait until at least 2030 for their next shot at a World Cup knockout win, next year's Asian Cup offers a more immediate chance at redemption, with their tournament set to kick off on Jan. 9 in Saudi Arabia when they take on Singapore.
"Of course, the Asian Cup is around the corner," Irankunda said. "We'll keep working. That's what we've been doing to put out the performances that we've been doing at this tournament, the biggest tournament. We've just got to stick together, especially during the hard times like now. Stick together, work hard, and push for the Asian Cup."
"We should probably have a little break now, clear our heads, because it's tough," added Volpato. "But yeah, 100%, I think that will be our goal to go there and not be scared of anything, and hopefully do our best there as well.
"I can't wait to start now as well. I think we've got a bright future with a lot of good players, we've got a good coach, so you know, I think it's in our hands. I just can't wait."
While there are fears for Jordan Bos' availability for that tournament after he suffered a serious-looking injury against Egypt -- the Feyenoord flanker had scans on Saturday -- much of the Australian squad should be primed to take their game to another level in that tournament, with seven players aged 23 or under in the World Cup squad and all starting at least one game.
"Playing together, boys getting good moves, boys playing constant football, boys playing in great clubs, that makes every player grow, makes every player get better," defender Alessandro Circati said. "Then, when we all come here, maybe we're individually better, and we can be a better team as well."
