INTERNATIONAL: Australia's dancing substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne saved the last penalty to clinch a place at this year's World Cup in Qatar as they edged Peru 5-4 in a shootout following a 0-0 draw after extra time in an inter-continental playoff on Monday 13th June.
Redmayne danced across the goal-line before diving to the right to stop a kick from Alex Valera and hand Australia a deserved victory at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
Redmayne had been brought on three minutes from the end of the game for the shootout and became an instant hero with his antics on the line as he looked to distract the rival kicker.
He danced up and down, wiggling his hips and throwing his arms about in a throwback to the clowning antics of Liverpool's Bruce Grobbelaar when they won the European Cup in 1984.
It was enough for Luis Advincila to fire his effort against the post and then Valera to have his effort saved as Australia qualified for a fifth successive World Cup and a sixth in total.
Australian Coach, Graham Arnold, Said:
“I’m quite speechless at the moment, because no one in Australia gave us a chance, and, you know, the boys, what we’ve been through over the last, sorry, over the last year-and-a-half with the pandemic, not being able to get back into Australia, and players getting COVID, and, you know, us not being able to have our best squad together a lot of times, but, you know, we, the mentality of the boys since they come into camp here was fantastic, and I just, I couldn’t be so proud and happy for the players.”
“So, we’re going to be strong for the World Cup, and we’re going to go to the World Cup with a lot of belief, and, you know, from today it’s a clean sheet. We’re back to, you know, best players need to get on that piece of paper to go to the World Cup here in Qatar.”
“The gratitude that I have for those players is ten-fold, because the sacrifices they’ve made to play for their country, and I’ll be honest, a lot of them felt that we didn’t have the support back at home. No one thought that we could do this, but they kept believing, and that’s the most important thing, and I’ll go have an, and enjoy a beer with them tonight.”
They will play in Group D at the World Cup with holders France, Denmark and Tunisia. The finals run from Nov. 21-Dec. 18.
Australia had missed their first penalty but converted the next five to silence thousands of Peru supporters, who travelled for the game and provided noisy support but saw their team conjure up a few opportunities.
Instead, a workmanlike Australia dominated the early exchanges, with winger Martin Boyle twice cutting through the Peruvian defence to provide teasing crosses.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with limited efforts on goal until the 80th minute when Australia suddenly had three good opportunities to win the match.
Ajdin Hrustic’s tame free kick was easily saved by Peru captain Pedro Gallese and five minutes later Aziz Behich broke through two tackles and suddenly found himself in front of goal but narrowly missed as he tried to curl his shot into the net.
Then a run down the left by Australia substitute Awer Mabil saw him slip the ball into the path of Hrustic but he did not get enough power on his shot and Gallese saved again.
Nine minutes into extra time Australia's Mathew Ryan was finally tested by a stinging shot from Edison Flores that the goalkeeper saved.
Flores then headed against the post as the South Americans found an extra gear in the closing stages but they were still unable to settle the result after two hours of play, setting the stage for Redmayne to emerge as a hero.
The single game playoff between the fifth-placed finishers in Asian and South American qualifying determined the 31st place at this year's World Cup.
On Tuesday, the last place at the finals will be decided when Costa Rica and New Zealand clash in their inter-continental playoff, also at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
