What a story! Substituted in the 120th minute of the World Cup playoffs with just one mission: save the penalty. And what’s that chicken Andrew Redmayne doing? He gives Peru two misses in a very memorable way. And solves the World Cup ticket for Australia.
Long following the rest of the cheering crew, Andrew Redmayne, 33 and a six-foot-tall with a prominent beard, emerged from the dressing room. Redmayne is the reserve keeper for the Socceroos – and since Monday evening shortly before midnight local time in Qatar, and thus at breakfast time back home, he has probably been the most famous penalty-zapper in his country.
No, he can’t believe it yet, said Redmayne. “It’s pretty surreal.” In the 120th minute, the Sydney FC goalkeeper came on for Captain Mathew Ryan, who played almost 70 times for Australia. “It has paid off in the best way imaginable,” commented Australian newspaper The Age.
It was only his second appearance for the Socceroos in a competitive game, he was allowed to play once morest Nepal in June 2021. The brief stint was enough to make Redmayne famous. Even if he didn’t want to know anything regarding it: “I wouldn’t call myself a hero. I only played a small part in that.”
A stretching jumping jack in goal
But his contribution will not be forgotten in a hurry. Above all, it was the way Redmayne threw Peru’s shooters up in a 5-4 penalty shoot-out at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in World Cup host country Qatar. He ran down the goal line, twirled his arms like a jumping jack, even did spins. It seemed a bit weird. “It confuses the player. You lose concentration, »said Ajdin Hrustić from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Redmayne provoked two missed shots. One went to the post, he fended off the decisive last attempt himself. “He wrote a special story for himself and for us,” said selection colleague Jackson Irvine, he was surprised by the personal feint by coach Graham Arnold. “Sometimes football is also psychology,” emphasized the FC St. Pauli professional.
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Costa Rica and New Zealand are fighting for the last World Cup ticket
The Australians will play their sixth World Cup appearance and fifth consecutively in Group D with France, Denmark and Tunisia. Two bring back memories of the World Cup four years ago. Eventual world champions France started the tournament with a 2-1 win over Australia, followed by a 1-1 draw once morest Denmark, and the Australians ultimately failed to make it through to the group stage. Their best performance at a World Cup was reaching the top 16, which was in Germany in 2006. Now they want more. If only to give new penalty hero Redmayne a chance to fidget in the knockout stages.
The 32nd and last place will be awarded this Tuesday when New Zealand and Costa Rica meet also at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Ar-Rayyan. The winner of this game goes into Group E with Germany, Spain and Japan.