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Milos Degenek reacts after Australia’s shock Asian Cup exit
Australia international Milos Degenek has taken the entire blame after the Socceroos suffered a shock quarter-final exit to the United Arab Emirates in the Asian Cup. The side from Down-Under were widely fancied to reach the competition’s final but they could not do so after an ill-fated backpass from Degenek allowed Ali Mabkhout score the sole goal of the game for the hosts.
Speaking after the defeat, Degenek took the responsibility for the country’s elimination from the Asian Cup. He added to express his sympathy to the fans and teammates, who were hoping to secure a second-straight title in the Middle East, he told Fox Sports: “Obviously we didn’t go through tonight because of my mistake. I let the team down, let the boys down, let our country down.
“Its obviously a s*** situation, its f***** to be in my shoes, but that’s life, that’s football, it happens. “I feel bad for the boys because I ended our dreams. I made the mistake that shattered all our dreams, and not just ours but our country’s but we didn’t deserve it tonight I think. Its pretty hard to say anything, its f*****.”
“Australia commanded twice the amount of possession against the home side“ and they even managed three times the number of shots. However, neither statistic could make a major “difference on the scoresheet“ with the forwards being rather wasteful with just two attempts on target through the course of the game.
Elsewhere, another competition favourite South Korea suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Qatar, who are the hosts for the next World Cup. The Asian heavyweights were boosted by the recent return to Heung-min Son to the mix but the move did not make any difference with Abdulaziz Hatem netting the winner for Qatar in the 78th minute of the encounter.