Metcalfe: "It was good to see the boys are still doing well"
Wednesday, 07. February 2024, 10:00 Uhr
Connor Metcalfe trained with his teammates at the Kollau for the first time in 2024 on Tuesday, he and Jackson Irvine having been at the Asian Cup with Australia from the turn of the year. The Socceroos went out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage last Friday after a 2-1 extra-time defeat at the hands of South Korea. That disappointment soon vanished with the home win over Fürth, however.
"I'm glad to be back even though the weather's not great," said Metcalfe after his first session in Hamburg. The midfielder hadn't trained with Eric Smith, Marcel Hartel and Co. for what seemed like half an eternity after hooking up with Australia to prepare for the Asian Cup in Qatar at the turn of the year along with Irvine, who is slightly ill and couldn't train on Tuesday.
The tournament began well for the St. Pauli pairing, with Australia beating India 2-0 in their opening game on 13 January and going on to win the group with a 1-0 defeat of Syria and a 1-1 draw against Uzbekistan. A comfortable 4-0 win over Indonesia followed in the Round of 16 before the Socceroos were knocked out by South Korea on Friday. The Koreans scored the equaliser from the penalty spot in the final minute of regulation time and then grabbed the winner in extra-time. "To go out the way we did really hurt," said Metcalfe looking back at the unfortunate quarter-final defeat. "It's disappointing. We had a really good chance. It's probably a similar feeling to St. Pauli losing in the cup against Fortuna Düsseldorf."
Connor Metcalfe and Jackson Irvine (background) suffered a 2-1 extra-time defeat against South Korea in the quarter-final.
That disappointment evaporated quickly, however, as Metcalfe and Irvine flew back to Hamburg within a few hours of going out of the Asian Cup, arriving in time to see the thrilling 3-2 defeat of Greuther Fürth. "It was great to see the lads get the home win," said Metcalfe, delighted with the performance against the then second-placed side. He and Irvine also followed the team's fortunes against Kaiserslautern and in the two meetings with Düsseldorf: "Jackson and I watched all the games via live stream. It was good to see the boys are still doing well, it looks like they don't need us!"
The team did indeed compensate for the loss of Irvine and Metcalfe in fine fashion, making a perfect start to the second half of the season with three wins out of three. That said, the Boys in Brown are not about to rest on their laurels, as Metcalfe pointed out: "We're taking it game by game and not thinking too far ahead. We know the challenges each week." The next one comes around on Saturday with a trip to Magdeburg. Will Metcalfe be involved? "I've no idea! It's my first training session, I'm a little bit tired but other than that I feel fine."
Photos: Witters/Aleksandar Jason
