Will Mathew Leckie ever need to buy a beer in Australia again? That was the not-so-burning question doing the rounds as Australia’s beaming players bounced out of their dressing room to discuss their surprise qualification for the Qatar 2022 knockout rounds.
It was the 31-year-old’s goal, a moment of rare brilliance in a game largely devoid of attacking quality, that took the Socceroos through to the FIFA World Cup™ knockout stage for just the second time in their history. And the verdict was unanimous: whatever Leckie goes on to do, he should never again find the need to approach a bar.
“Most definitely not!” was the verdict of Australia’s captain, Mat Ryan. “Even before this goal tonight, he’d deserved to never have to buy another drink. He’s a legend. Just look at his efforts tonight – he’s an absolute beast. I can’t speak highly enough of him. He’s an absolute leader, in both actions and words, and we always see it from him.
“His football does him more credit than any words I have for him. You’ve seen it tonight and so often – he’s such an important member of this team. He’s an animal, getting up and down that touchline, doing a job for the team. It’s so selfless.
“He was absolutely spent out there but he finds that energy within himself to make a last-ditch challenge or go on that run he went on to score that goal. I’m so glad to have him as a part of this team.”
Dissenting voices were, naturally, impossible to find. “He’s been a huge part of this team for so long, longer than most of the rest us, and he’s so reliable,” Jackson Irvine told FIFA+.
“He’s the guy we always look to and trust to produce big moments and big performances. And look at him now. In his third World Cup, he’s produced one of the greatest moments in the history of Australian football.”
And what was Leckie’s reward for this moment of national sporting import? “I got slapped in the head about 100 times!” he said, chuckling. “In the celebration you saw the emotion. I didn’t know what to do, I was just pounding my chest.
“Once the boys got together, the whole bench was there. The team we are, whether you’re starting or on the bench or not getting any game time, everyone is here for each other.”
Even if the goal had been the scrappiest of all time, deflected in off Leckie’s backside, its significance would have made it worthy of such celebrations. It was, of course, anything but, with the Melbourne City star – after some initial reluctance – going it alone, twisting Joakim Maehle one way then the other, before drilling a low, left-foot shot just inside the far post.
“First I wanted to cut inside, and [Maehle] sort of went that way. And just in the moment I went left again and swung my left boot and just saw the ball rolling in,” he recalled afterwards.
“This is my third World Cup now and I've had my chances in previous World Cups to score, which weren’t meant to be. My first World Cup [goal] is probably one of the most important goals for me and for the team.”
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