Milestone man Mat Ryan ‘proud' to have won back his cherished Socceroos spot
Socceroos skipper Mat Ryan feared that his career with the national team was over after being dropped following last September's appointment of Tony Popovic as Australia's coach.
Having amassed 95 caps in a stellar Socceroos journey that started in 2012, Ryan suddenly found himself watching from the bench in Popovic's first three games in charge, with the younger Joe Gauci preferred and seemingly set to dethrone the stalwart custodian permanently.
However, after keeping a clean sheet in Australia's 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia in Melbourne in November, Gauci was perhaps surprisingly dropped, with Ryan reinstated for the Socceroos' clash with Bahrain less than a week later in Riffa.
And now having been between the posts for Australia's past four games, 33-year-old Ryan is set to become the third Socceroo to reach 100 caps when he lines up on Wednesday morning (AEST) against the Saudis in Jeddah, where his team is almost certain to secure 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification.
'There were definitely thoughts that I had then that I could well have played my last game for the national team,' Ryan said in reflecting on being dropped.
'At the same time … anyone who obtains success in their life, it's a fundamental to be able to stay strong and continue to believe in yourself and back yourself.
'The majority of my process at that stage was that, but there are obviously also certain uncontrollables. I'm not a manager (head coach), and I don't make the selections.
'I do everything I can to influence the manager, to convince him that I'm the best man for the job, but sometimes that's not always good enough, and I've experienced that in my (club) career as well.
'There was a thought here and there that (I might) have (played) my last game, so I'm pretty proud of the fact that I've managed to fight my way back in, but at the same time, I believe as a footballer, no-one is ever entitled to be playing for a team.'
Ryan, who is off contract at his French club Lens, was never going 'throw in the towel' after being dropped.
'You've got to go out there and earn that right every single day on the training pitch, and off the training pitch as well, making sure you're doing the right things, and when you get the opportunity to pull on that jersey and get on that pitch, it's the player's responsibility to make the most of that opportunity and not give the manager a reason to not select them moving forward,' he said.
'I never felt like I was entitled to be playing at any moment. so with that approach, it helped me just get my head down and work harder than ever before and try to do everything I could to get back in.
'There could have been quite a few players that maybe would have perhaps spat the dummy, or threw in the towel, and not come back from it, but my love for football and our nation, and being out there and contributing to the team, just fuelled my hunger and motivated me more to do what I could and tap into my skill sets to try to get back out there on the pitch.'
Despite being on the verge of playing a fourth World Cup, Ryan is taking nothing for granted when it comes to selection or even Australia qualifying.
That's despite the Saudis needing to score at least five goals on Wednesday morning to have any hope of reaching next year's World Cup ahead of the Socceroos.
'By no means is the job finished,' he said.
'It's important that we just stay focused and stay present in what we're doing at the minute.
'When you've got that success at your fingertips, you want to take that final last step to achieve it.
'It's my 100th cap, but … I'm not treating this game any different to how I treated my first one or my fifth one, or my 10th or 50th.
'That's what the jersey deserves. Any time that an individual gets the opportunity to pull that jersey on and represent our great country, it just demands the utmost dedication and sacrifice.
'I'm just approaching it as any other game and just trying to create another lifelong memory through having a good win against a good opposition in Saudi Arabia away from home.'
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