Socceroos vs Argentina result: Aziz Behic free kick, Mat Ryan Howler | video

The Socceroos were knocked out of the World Cup after losing 2-1 to Argentina on Sunday morning – and despite the daring effort, we have only ourselves to blame.

Lionel Messi’s men will advance to the quarter-finals against the Netherlands after The Dutch easily dispatched the US early in the game.

A pair of costly mistakes by defender Aziz Behic and goalkeeper Mat Ryan were decisive moments that saw underdogs Graham Arnold two goals behind.

Craig Goodwin gave life to Australia with a 76th-minute goal, but Behic and Garang Kuol’s late chances were squandered with Argentina defending to the death.

And as close as those opportunities were, Argentina had theirs at the other end of the match as well, when they finished with 61 percent possession.

The disappointing result ends an exciting tournament for the Socceroos, which was expected to be a road killer in Qatar.

Arnold’s team made history by winning two games – against Tunisia and Denmark – but will go home feeling they could go even further.

“Messi’s first goal was just a quality goal,” Arnold said. “But a mistake (in the second) cost us.”

Australia started the match relatively calmly, staying tight defensively and allowing Argentina to take a few forays into the lead in the first 30 minutes.

Keanu Bacchus immediately made himself felt in his first international start, knocking Messi down with a strong tackle.

But it wasn’t just the pursuit of the Soxera, as they began to spend more time in the Argentine half of the field. However, half an hour later, neither side has struck on goal.

The situation quickly changed in the 35th minute when Behic lost his cool.

The Socceroos defender confronted Messi as the ball went out of play and expressed his frustration with the football legend.

Behic then pushed Argentine Papa Gómez in the ensuing game, breaking an unnecessary foul when Argentina had good field position.

After taking the free kick and seeing it saved by Garry Suttar, Messi regained possession and scored his 94th international goal to give Argentina a 1–0 lead.

Former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Bosnich said Behic’s foul was very costly.

“These are big games against big players,” Bosnich said on SBS.

“And in big games, big games for big boys, big boys rules.

“He turns it on here and Behic loses it a little.

“You just have to forget about it, because then Behic will foul Gomez right after.

“When it comes to this stage, Argentina gets frustrated, but Messi lets him down.

“Then this foul. It was one of Argentina’s best positions for the whole half. There is a foul almost sometimes, it can be suicidal. Here, the ball comes in, a dangerous position. And then Messi does what he does.”

But there was an even bigger blunder in reserve.

Argentina doubled their lead early in the 57th minute after Socceroos goalkeeper Mat Ryan’s ‘absolute brainwash’.

Ryan caught the ball and turned it over in the box, allowing Julian Alvarez to finish it off easily.

“He’s going to want the lawn to open up and swallow him up,” SBS commentator David Bashir said of Ryan. “Be strong before this absolute brain fades away.”

The impact forced Arnold to make some changes.

Goodwin, who lost his place in the starting lineup to Keanu Bacchus, was substituted, and later in the half he attacked the ball that fell towards him just outside the penalty area.

His shot, which on replays looked like it had gone wide, was charged by Lisandro Martinez, who watched helplessly as he redirected it into the Argentine’s goal.

Five minutes later, Behic had almost made up his mind. The defender made a dazzling shot into the penalty area, and only some last defense blocked his shot.

Australia had one last chance to win extra time with seconds left when the ball accidentally landed on Garang Kuol.

But his shot was masterfully parried by the Argentine goalkeeper.

Originally published as Defender’s ‘stupid’ act, goalkeeper’s ‘brain fading’ forced the Socceroos to pack up