{"id":515925,"date":"2026-06-29T02:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T02:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/515925\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T02:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T02:31:12","slug":"they-ruined-our-dream-revenge-on-socceroos-minds-for-clash-with-egypt-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/515925\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They ruined our dream\u2019: Revenge on Socceroos\u2019 minds for clash with Egypt | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The memory flashed back instantly for Socceroos midfielder Connor Metcalfe, when asked about the last time he played against Egypt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt actually feels like a blur to be honest,\u201d he said, recalling the Olyroos\u2019 match five years ago at the Tokyo Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were quite a big physical team, I just remember it being really humid and hot, we didn\u2019t play our best game. Yeah, they ruined our dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

The medal hopes of Metcalfe, Harry Souttar and Cammy Devlin \u2013 the only current Socceroos who played that night \u2013 ended in a disappointing 2-0 defeat when even a draw would have seen the team progress from their group.<\/p>\n

While at senior level Australia and Egypt rarely play \u2013 including most recently a 3-0 win for the Pharaohs in Cairo in 2010 \u2013 Metcalfe\u2019s Olyroos experience has provided additional motivation. \u201cI guess you could say it\u2019s a bit of revenge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The speculation ahead of the match has been dominated by the fitness of Egypt forward Mo Salah, who came off against Iran with more than half an hour to play and was icing his left hamstring.<\/p>\n

The Socceroos are yet to focus their plans on Salah, however, or indeed any of the Egypt squad which also includes Manchester City player Omar Marmoush and 18-year-old forward Hamza Abdelkarim, who is signed to Barcelona B.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, we haven\u2019t really discussed Egypt that much, we just try to refresh the body, refresh the mind, and then tomorrow onwards we\u2019ll start to really get ready for it,\u201d Metcalfe said.<\/p>\n

Connor Metcalfe is one of three Socceroos players with memories of a defeat to Egypt. Photograph: Jason Henry\/AAP<\/p>\n

Defender Lucas Herrington said he anticipates there will be threats throughout a team that only lost narrowly to Senegal in January\u2019s African Cup of Nations semi-final.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Salah and Marmoush] are the two names that most people remember and most people mention, but I think we\u2019ve just got to be ready for everyone,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re a top team and we\u2019re all looking forward to the occasion and it\u2019s another chance to make history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Socceroos have not won a World Cup knockout match, and both occasions they have played in the last 16 delivered painful, narrow defeats. In 2006, Italy scored a late penalty to win 1-0, and Argentina held on for a 2-1 victory in 2022.<\/p>\n

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Metcalfe said they have a \u201creally good shot\u201d for breaking through in Dallas. \u201cWe\u2019ve come so far, I don\u2019t think anyone expected us to even get out of the group, so we\u2019re all buzzing just to have this amazing achievement and be able to be in this knockout stage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Metcalfe has been instrumental for the Socceroos during this World Cup after a season where he struggled for minutes in the Bundesliga with St Pauli. He said the recent weeks have been a \u201crelease\u201d after a frustrating period.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being able to let it out on the pitch and enjoy the moment and not really being nervous and just get on with it \u2026 I think it\u2019s really helped me to be honest because there\u2019s a lot of inner anger from the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seven-day break between the Socceroos\u2019 final group stage match and the last 32 fixture has afforded the players more time with their family in the San Francisco Bay Area, before they ramp up preparations. The squad is due to fly to Dallas on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to know that we get to stay here longer,\u201d Metcalfe said. \u201cWe also know that it could end very quickly, but we\u2019re just trying to enjoy every day together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The memory flashed back instantly for Socceroos midfielder Connor Metcalfe, when asked about the last time he played…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-515925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}