Reliving Mat Ryan's best Socceroos moments on his birthday
Mat Ryan may have only just turned 28 after celebrating his birthday on Wednesday, but already the Socceroos goalkeeper has had countless memorable moments while donning the green and gold.
Having made his senior debut against North Korea in 2012, Ryan has been a mainstay in the Socceroos squad since Mark Schwarzer retired in 2013.
With 59 appearances, the Brighton shotstopper is the second most-capped goalkeeper for the Socceroos, second only to Schwarzer, who holds the all-time record for Socceroos appearances with 109.
Ryan has also had the honour of captaining the side, being the 62nd to do so, in a dominant 7-1 win over Chinese Taipei in World Cup qualifying.
The 28-year-old has been the starter in all major tournaments since debuting, making six World Cup appearances, 11 Asian Cup and three Confederation Cup.
His best was undoubtedly the championship winning 2015 Asian Cup, in which Ryan was named goalkeeper of the tournament on home soil.
With team honours typically being the goal for players, Ryan’s consistent performances in goal have seen him be named as the PFA Men’s player of the year on multiple occasions. He joins Aaron Mooy as one of only two people to do so.
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There have been some incredible saves in his 59 appearances.
In Graham Arnold’s first game as manager, Ryan pulled off a stunning save against Korea Republic to deny a free kick destined for the top corner and keep the Socceroos in the game late on.
In the 2015 edition of the AFC Asian Cup, Ryan pulled off a stunning diving save to deny a long-range effort in the early minutes of the game against Oman.
While the side ended up winning comfortably, the result could have been very different if not for Ryan.
In the Quarter Final against China, Ryan made a stunning double save to keep the lead intact and advance through to knockout stages.
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Diving to his left to deny a long-range shot, Ryan then quickly got back to his feet to keep the ball out.
In the AFC Asian Cup 2019, Ryan made not one, but two stunning penalty saves in the Round of 16 against Uzbekistan. That came off the back of a dominant performance, where Ryan was rarely troubled.
In the most recent round of World Cup qualifiers, while barely troubled, Ryan popped up with some incredible saves.
With the result against Kuwait all but wrapped up, a thumping drive from Yousef Nasser was tipped away, Ryan diving to his left to keep his clean sheet intact.
What was arguably his best save of the qualifiers, came in the 80th minute against Jordan. With the hosts desperate to find an equaliser late on, Ryan dived low to his left to deny Hamza Al-Dardoor and keep the Socceroos lead intact.
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