Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Arlington: A couple of hours after the worst moment of his short career to date, Lucas Herrington received a message of support from an unlikely source: none other than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, speaking directly to him through the cameras of Fox Sports.
“You’re 18 years old. You’re young. This is just the beginning of your career,” the legendary Swedish striker said on the post-match coverage of the Socceroos’ shattering penalty shootout defeat to Egypt.
“You stepping up there, you show a lot of courage. Not everybody will do that. My friend, you’re the best. Don’t listen to the rest.
“Penalty is lottery. It’s not easy to step up there, to shoot that penalty, and it’s a moment of seconds. Either it goes well or [doesn’t].
“Herrington, if you want to reach out, I’m here.”
There’s probably no combination of words that could ease the pain Herrington was feeling, and will be feeling for a while, after his missed penalty in Dallas. But that certainly didn’t hurt.
“I’m probably the first one to be knocking myself down and being hard on myself,” he said.
“To hear that from a legend of the game means a lot. I’ll just keep working hard and hopefully another moment like that comes for me.”
Classic Herrington, really. A more level-headed and mature response to such acute heartbreak would be difficult to find – and especially from a teenager who has only been playing professional football for less than two years, and on an international arena for a few short months.
But from this kid, it’s par for the course.
It’s precisely why Socceroos coach Tony Popovic and his teammates didn’t blink twice when Herrington was told he would be taking the team’s fourth penalty, which clipped the top of the crossbar and went out.
It was their last one, too, with Hossam Abdelmaguid’s next spot kick for Egypt clinching their first World Cup knockout win – and Australia’s disappointing exit.
As debate swirled back home about whether Popovic was right to put an 18-year-old defender so high up his list for penalties, the rest of the team leapt to Herrington’s defence.
Jackson Irvine was one of the first to put an arm around him, hugging Herrington as he walked back to the rest of the group from the penalty area, before the Socceroos’ fate had even been sealed.
“There’s not many words you can say to a player in that moment. It was just so that he knows that we’re there … to look him in the eye and embrace 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 in any moment. For him to step up in that moment, it takes incredible steel.”
Nestory Irankunda said he was “super proud” of Herrington. Connor Metcalfe said it “wasn’t even a mistake … he’s gone for the top corner.” Ajdin Hrustic tipped him to come back stronger.
Awer Mabil said: “Keep going, buddy. We’re all in this together. Everything will be all right.”
Alessandro Circati, who was set to take Australia’s last spot kick had it come to it, said he wished Herrington would get to take another penalty in a month’s time, and that he’d score it, just to wash away the memory.
“It’s not easy. If you do step up, you’re the only one that can miss,” he said. “It’s all part of the game.”
Popovic, for his part, couldn’t fathom the thought that anyone would point the finger of blame at him. “Who would do that?” he said.
“I don’t think that really matters, I don’t think the players will see any of that, and certainly we won’t. I have no interest in anyone that might do that.”
Harry Souttar, who put Australia’s first penalty into the seating at AT&T Stadium, would know more how Herrington was feeling than any other Socceroo. He was still coming to terms with his own miss, which belied another typically phenomenal performance from him in defence.
“Just devastated,” a glassy-eyed Souttar said.
“I’ve missed. It is what it is. Obviously, I know the responsibility that you have to take one. I missed it. I can’t go back and change it. I put so much into the game. I felt really good going into it. It wasn’t to be. It’s just so gutting to go out in that way.”
But Souttar was not surprised to see Herrington step up, such is the esteem he holds him in, having watched him spend the preceding 120 minutes marking Mohamed Salah out of the game.
“You knew he was going to anyway – like, the guy, 18 years old, nothing’s fazed him,” he said.
What would surprise Souttar is if he let this drag him down.
“For him to go through that at this age is just going to let him grow even stronger,” he said.
“The guy’s been unbelievable. He’s marking one of the best wingers we’ve seen in the last 10 years. He was incredible. I’ve got no worries that that is going to affect him in any way. He’s just going to grow from it and certainly get stronger.”
What that process looks like for Herrington, at least in the short term, remains to be seen. Barcelona’s interest in him will intensify after this World Cup; incidentally, that’s one of Ibrahimovic’s former clubs.
But it was the support of his teammates, Herrington said, that mattered the most. No disrespect to Zlatan.
“It gives me the confidence just to keep working hard,” he said.
“I know my team have my back and it’s just one of those moments that didn’t go our way. We’ll just keep working and get back ready for the next World Cup.”
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