The Australian team, which won the penultimate place for the World Cup in Qatar on Monday in a penalty shootout, surprised Peru at the end of extra time in a nervous goalless game with a change of goalkeeper that was decisive for victory 5-4 after 12 executions; in which Andrew Redmayne emerged as the protagonist by executing a curious ‘show’ of dancing and jumping before each shot by the South American players.
Mathew Ryan, who performed well to keep it 0-0 in regulation time and for much of the 30 minutes he played in extra time, left his post in an apparent strategic and very risky move by Sooceroos coach Graham Arnold. The ‘castling’ of goalkeepers ordered by Arnold put Andrew Redmayne between the three sticks to face the penalty shootout in the match played at the Ahmad bin Ali stadium in Doha.
The Australian A-League Sydney FC goalkeeper put on a very particular ‘show’ with a dance before his rivals executed his shot. The ‘victim’ turned out to be Alex Valera on pitch 12, when the series was 4-4.
Redmayne, who turned 33 on January 13, seemed to intimidate the young and inexperienced Deportivo Llacuabamba player, who offered a loose and telegraphed shot to the left post, very easy for Redmayne’s flight and save.
Just as the Australian goalkeeper arrived in the last minutes of the crucial play-off game, Valera was one of the last called up by Peru coach Ricardo Gareca to face the game.
With the victory, Australia qualified for the sixth World Cup in its history, the same was pursued by the Peruvians after conquering 1,671 days ago by the same route of the playoffs their pass to Russia 2018 after an absence of 36 years.
