There has been an avalanche of criticism tumble upon Tony Popovic in the wake of Australia’s shootout loss to Egypt, for which he brought on Maty Ryan and asked 18-year-old Lucas Herrington to take a crucial penalty. Yet the morning after in Dallas, none of it was coming from Popovic’s boss, who instead delivered an endorsement for the Socceroos coach. “Every fan believes he’s a great national coach, right?” said Football Australia chief executive Martin Kugeler.
It sounded like a contentious statement, until you realise the “he” in the sentence was referring to the fan, not the Socceroos coach. No one disagrees with the notion that Popovic is a capable manager who has shown he has a place in professional football, and has guided this team out of a challenging World Cup group.
