In the earlier hours of Saturday morning, Australian hearts were broken as Bathurst product Rhyan Grant and his Socceroos teammates went down to the United Arab Emirates in a disappointing AFC Asian Cup quarter finals match.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Looking for a third consecutive appearance in the tournament’s final, Australia suffered a 1-0 defeat, a Milos Degenek back-pass gifting the UAE the win after forward Ali Mabkhout pounced on the Socceroos’ mistake.
The Socceroos dominated the shot tally and chances against the host nation but it just wasn’t Grant’s or Australia’s day.
Speaking to Fox Sports post-game, Grant’s teammate Jackson Irvine said the loss was “tough to take”.
“It’s hard to wrap your emotions after it so quickly after the game,” he said.
“We had enough that we could’ve created more and made more use of the ball when we had it.
“It’s down to one moment that’s decided the game and we just have to deal with that. Obviously all the boys will be together, we win as a team and we lose as a team.”
Grant started in all but the first match, after coming on at half-time against Jordan as an injury replacement for Josh Risdon.
He will now return back to his Sydney FC duties, after featuring in all of the Socceroos matches at the Asian Cup.
Grant could feature for Sydney FC in their clash against Melbourne City on February 3, at Jubilee Stadium.