The Socceroos have rallied around shattered defender Lewis Miller after his Asian Cup nightmare against South Korea.
Leading 1-0 deep into stoppage-time after a first-half goal from Craig Goodwin, the Socceroos were beaten 2-1 by the Taeguk Warriors in Saturday morning’s quarter-final at Al Janoub Stadium.
Substitute Miller afforded the Koreans a approach again into the sport when he needlessly fouled Tottenham star Son Hueng-min within the penalty space with the Australians lower than two minutes away from reaching the semi-finals.
Hwang Hee-chan transformed the spot kick to take the sport to extra-time.
And issues had been to worsen for Miller, whose reckless foul on Hwang led to Son touchdown the knockout blow for the Koreans with a elegant free-kick.
“We gave them some opportunities from set-pieces that we didn’t need to,” stated Goodwin, who consoled Miller after the match.
“For him it’s just a learning curve. It’s about trying to keep your head and trying to stay in the moment and stay present in the game.
“It’s done now. We’re disappointed, and that’s it.”
Socceroos centre-back Harry Souttar stated Miller shouldn’t “singled out” for the defeat.
“I’ve made mistakes in the past … we win as a team, we lose as a team,” Souttar stated.
“Can we do better in those moments? Probably, as a team.
“We’ve just got to make sure that next time it doesn’t get to that.”
Despite Miller’s errors, the Socceroos ought to have earlier sealed their win however blew a bunch of alternatives, with Connor Metcalfe, Mitch Duke and Martin Boyle the primary culprits when it got here to losing possibilities.
National coach Graham Arnold stated the Australians had been “punished” for failing to place the sport to mattress.
“We were up 1-0, we had chances to make it 2-0, 3-0, and if you don’t take your chances, that gets down to the individual to put the ball in the back of the net,” Arnold stated.
“If you don’t take those chances you get punished, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Arnold was assured Miller, the previous Central Coast Mariners right-back who now performs for Scottish membership Hibernian, could be “fine”.
“I put my arm around him and give him a hug, and tell him that these things are lessons in life,” Arnold stated.
“You learn from these type of things and you move forward.
“He’s got to get back to his club, (where) and it’s a different environment to here and he’ll be fine.”
The Socceroos will regather subsequent month for 2 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches in opposition to Lebanon.
“No doubt there are some older players that may retire and move on,” Arnold stated.
“I’ve learnt a lot from the other new players that I’ve brought in.”
Originally revealed as Socceroos console devastated defender Lewis Miller following Asian Cup exit
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
