This is the second part of our interview with Mat Ryan. In part one, Ryan reflects on his time playing in the Premier League and how it compares to Spain's LaLiga, where he currently plies his trade with Levante.
Read part one of our interview with Ryan here!
We are joined by Mathew Ryan, one of the greatest Australian goalkeepers of all time. Mat, you were the youngest Socceroo ever to reach 100 caps, and only the third Australian to do so.
You have played in over 40 World Cup qualifiers and appeared in 10 World Cup matches across three tournaments, captained your country 42 times and recorded 39 clean sheets in your first 100 games for Australia... welcome!
"Thank you. It's only in situations like this where someone talks about your career that way... I didn't even know a lot of those (stats), you know? So, it's a pinch yourself moment (to hear that)."
You've already played at three World Cups (2014, 2018, 2022). What's it going to mean to you to play a fourth this year in the United States, Canada and Mexico?
"It still means the world, you know. Every chance I get to live every day as a professional footballer is a dream come true. And to have been to three World Cups and potentially this one to be my fourth, is beyond my wildest dreams as a kid, growing up, never knowing if I would ever be good enough to play as a professional, play in Europe or play for my national team...
"And, so to hear what you're rattling off there (the stats), you don't get to reflect too often (on those), because there's always... Once you're living it, there are other games, other tournaments, there's always something more to focus on. And so, it's a really nice thing to hear some statistics."
As a captain, from your point of view, what is the most important before a World Cup? Is it keeping the group calm or more about finding motivation?
"I think a great characteristic about being a leader is production. And by that, I mean production on the football pitch. When you're faced with a scenario, situations as an individual, where people perhaps look at you and perceive, 'Oh, there's no way he's gonna be able to be successful in this moment', and you find a way to be successful and play a good game or make a good action... I think that probably is the best example for me of leadership...
"Of course, you have all the other things in between. You gotta set a good example, you know, make sure you're punctual, being on time, never causing issues, and anything like that. But ultimately, I just wanna win football games, and I'm gonna use all my experience to try and help my team do exactly that. So, whether I have an armband on and I'm the captain or I'm not, I don't think I change as a person or as a player. I just try to do the exact same thing."
Australia's head coach, Tony Popovic, has now taken the Socceroos to yet another World Cup. What has he changed most in the team since coming into the role in 2024?
"Of course, with every manager comes different tactics, different requests on how he wants to play. So, there's a big difference with the tactical side of how we wanna play. Now, we're playing sometimes with four at the back, sometimes with five. And then with the ball, he's really been working on his way of how he can get us players to be more comfortable on the ball and playing a brand of football that is exciting to watch and modern.
"And ultimately, he's very clear on his idea of what creates a winning environment and being super professional in making sure that we have everything that we need, but also very demanding of us in that we're dedicating all our time to being able to perform at the highest level.
"And he has loads of personnel in the camps that we're in to make sure that everything is being monitored and they're giving us feedback and advice on what we need to be doing. And, if you're not doing that, you won't be a part of the setup."
Looking back to the last World Cup in 2022, Mat, you performed so well against the likes of France and the eventual winners, Argentina. How do you reflect on that experience?
"Yeah. I mean, the last World Cup is probably the most memorable because we achieved stuff that an Australian football team had never achieved. We had two clean sheets in the tournament. We won two matches, which we hadn't done. We got through to the knockout stage, which only one team had done previously.
"And at a World Cup, it's all so amplified, it's so global that no other football match in the world compares to that tournament. It's everywhere, you know, on social media, on the TV, on signage on the road, you're seeing it in the airport. You can be on the opposite side of the world, and you see advertising for the World Cup...
"And the benefits of it, if you're able to perform well and do great things, the attention you get from doing that is a type of attention that you don't experience anywhere else or in any other moment. And to be able to represent our great country on a stage like that, there's no better feeling."
Socceroos 'always hungry and ambitious'
Do you feel like the Socceroos are hungrier? Are you more ambitious now?
"I think we've always been hungry and ambitious. I don't think that has changed. Obviously, I can't speak for other people and the details, but for myself, I'm hungrier than I've ever been. I'm wiser and smarter and more experienced than I've ever been, and I've learned more than I've ever learned in my career.
"I'm just trying to use all that, and I continue to learn every day. I have an open mind and take everything I can to make ourselves as strong as we can as a team and individually.
"The game is always changing and modernising, and I think you need to be doing the exact same just to keep up with it. So yeah, the hunger is there to be as great as we can be, and that hasn't changed. It's just about trying to find ways to keep everything fine-tuned to be as good as we can and even improve that little bit more.
"And with Tony (Popovic) now, he's put those demands on us, and we put that on ourselves as a playing group as well. And yeah, we wanna make it one of the best memories in our lives by being successful over there, and we leave no stone unturned in doing so."
How different is the mindset of this Australian squad compared to the previous World Cups you've been to? Do you see a difference?
"Probably... I mean, probably not with the mindset. I think everyone wants to win, it's just there are so many ways about, like going about wanting to win, you know? And as I said, every manager has a different way in how they perceive to make their teams successful, and there are differences compared to other managers that we've had in the national team.
"But yeah, the mentality for me is the first key point. If your mentality is not right, the tactics, the technical side of the game, you know, the set pieces, everything else, it doesn't have its impact if you don't have the mentality right. If that's the first thing to fail, everything else fails. If you have that kind of where it needs to be first and foremost, everything kind of then just falls into place behind that."
Looking through each opponent in your group at the World Cup (Turkey, USA and Paraguay), do you feel like one game will be more difficult than the other one?
"For me, I always try to approach every single game with the same amount of respect. I think that's what allows me to play at my highest level. And in my experience, if you're a team or an individual and you're looking at one game being more important than another, or respecting one opponent more than the other, I think you're either gonna get complacent when you're perceiving to be playing an easier opponent and you'll not be able to do what you need to do because you think it's just gonna be easy... and you get into trouble.
"And if you think that one team is so superior and so crazy good, then you're probably gonna have too much fear, give them too much time and space on the ball, and they'll punish you, you know?
"So I always respect every opponent that I'm coming up against, and I always approach it in the same way. And that way I know if I don't have my best game, that I still ticked all the boxes to give myself the best chance to play well. And if I have a good game, then that's because I stuck to my processes and I was confident that I could deliver a good game with all that I am... and that's my approach."
Don't you think there might be a favourite in the group, though? Is there one team that stands out from the others?
"No, I mean, I'm sure some people would easily say the USA because they are hosts, and it's extra special. But honestly, for me, the opportunity to play against Paraguay in a World Cup, you know, I could play my best ever game, you know? And I'm gonna remember that more than playing against the USA just for the occasion, you know?"
But isn't it extra motivation to play against the USA as the hosts, for you guys?
"Well, it depends on each person. But for me, I don't need any extra motivation. Me living my dream being a footballer, playing a World Cup game, no matter who it's against, whether it's the host or whether it's not... I can't get any more motivation than that, you know?
"I'm going out there, I wanna win as many games as possible, I wanna win as many World Cup games as possible, I wanna win as many LaLiga games as possible. So, in my approach, I don't have room to be even more motivated than what I am... because I think every game deserves that."
Do you have any expectations about what kind of atmosphere the World Cup will have? Do you think it's going to be special? And also, what do you think about the new format of 48 teams?
"Yeah, of course it's gonna be special. They all have been up until now, so I'm expecting nothing different with this World Cup. And I'm also at a point where I'm so competitive and all that, that I kind of lose myself in the game, and you kind of don't always hear the atmosphere, you know? And so I'm sure there's gonna be moments of that, but that's obviously just gonna be me trying to produce for the team if I'm playing.
"And yeah, this new format, it's different. But like I said, that's the way the game has adapted until now. They're still obviously World Cup games and... you just gotta go out there. What hasn't changed is that you just need to win football games. So, just focusing on that."
Messi and Kane 'don't scare me'
What did you think when you saw that Turkey qualified for your group at the World Cup? And do you worry about some of their players, like Arda Guler or Kenan Yildiz?
"No, I don't worry about anyone. You know, I've played Lionel Messi, I've played Harry Kane, I've played all the number of players out there in the world. They don't scare me, you know? It's an opportunity, you know. You turn the fear into excitement.
"And I know if or when we beat the likes of whoever's playing for any team that we're coming up against, it's gonna be a memory you're never gonna forget on that stage. And so, the excitement of having the opportunity to achieve that is where my attention goes.
"As I said, I just focus on what I can do, make sure that I'm as sharp as I can to be able to help our team and our country have the best World Cup that we can have."
Is there any player that you've said, 'Oh, I don't want to play against him anymore'?
"No. Because even, you know, I've played Messi three times. He's scored every time against me, but I just always hope that the next time he doesn't score against me, you know?
"I've actually never played Cristiano Ronaldo, though. I've been on the bench... but I've never played him. So I guess, if we were to come up against Portugal at one point, it would be nice to take him on."
Lastly, which teams are the main favourites to win the World Cup in your opinion?
"It's obviously difficult to say because there are so many great teams. But I'm probably gonna say France. They've been strong. France or Brazil, I think, will probably be two of the heavy, heavy favourites."
Say 'Spain', you live here!
"I mean, of course, they're good... But to be honest, it hasn't been something that I've really thought about, because I'm just focused on what we can do. So, yeah, I would say that they're gonna probably be there or thereabouts at the end of the tournament, like ourselves."