Football Australia publicly backs Popovic despite Round of 32 exit

[p]Popovic sparked criticism from some high-profile former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/xSrf6qMM/"]Australia[/a] players for substituting first-choice goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/beach-patrick/d6MmYtl5/"]Patrick Beach[/a] deep into extra-time in the last-32 clash in Dallas on Friday as penalties loomed.[/p][p]He instead turned to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ryan-mathew/YBLvziIh/"]Mathew Ryan[/a], who failed to pull off a save and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/egypt/bejDn7NN/"]Egypt[/a] won 4-2 on spot-kicks.[/p][p]The result left Australia still searching for a first victory in the knockout stages of a World Cup.[/p][p]Popovic also came under scrutiny for entrusting 18-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/herrington-lucas/4ApZ8wCi/"]Lucas Herrington[/a] with one of the penalties, which he missed.[/p][embed guid="565e4f60-3bfa-453c-8dd6-3234644fa301" url="https://x.com/sluggahjells/status/2073165319137316967" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]Every fan will think about what can be done better,[/b]" Football Australia chief executive Martin Kugeler told Australian media in Dallas.[/p][p]"[b]But the coaching staff and Tony Popovic are always in the best place to judge in that moment what is needed for the team.[/b][/p][p]"In hindsight, everyone always knows better, but you have to make those calls in the moment based on what you've seen in training, what is your impression in talking to the players.[/p][p]"[b]So Tony Popovic has absolutely our confidence.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="4d52de4d-9020-4570-868f-affb9b6e5f33" url="https://x.com/Socceroos/status/2073190096279372021" social-type="twitter" /][p]Popovic was appointed in 2024 and guided Australia to their sixth successive World Cup.[/p][p]His contract was extended in the days before the tournament through to the 2027 Asian Cup which is due to be held in Saudi Arabia from January 7 to February 5.[/p][p]"[b]We're absolutely happy about the decision to extend this contract[/b]," Kugeler said.[/p][p]"[b]He is the right person to now take this group into the next major tournament and apply all the experiences, all the learnings from this tournament into the next major tournament.[/b]"[/p]