After this World Cup, it would take a brave — or delusional — person to accuse the Socceroos of not giving their all in Qatar.
The Aussies scraped into the tournament via a shootout but romped into the round of 16 where Argentina claimed a 2-1 win.
Although Mat Ryan was slammed for his part in the deciding goal, you cannot take anything away from any of the Aussies after batting well above their average on the world’s biggest stage.
But with the tournament over after the loss to Argentina, the Socceroos were mocked online over “fanboying” over superstar Lionel Messi.
Aussie players descended on the legend to snap a photo, while Cam Devlin, who didn’t play a minute of action, snagged the famous No. 10 off Messi’s back.
SPORTbible posted vision of Australian players Keanu Baccus, Joel King and Marco Tilio asking Messi to pose for photos after the match.
All three players, as well as Australia’s goal scorer Craig Goodwin, posted pictures of themselves with Messi to their Instagram accounts in the wake of the Socceroos’ exit from the tournament.
But that didn’t stop some fans taking aim at their post-game attitude.
“They should be suspended from the national team,” one wrote.
“I think a lot of people would be upset still at leaving the World Cup to worry about a selfie with Messi,” wrote another.
The players also had plenty coming to their defence as well.
Melbourne City defender Tilio, who didn’t play at the World Cup after he was brought in as cover for the injured Martin Boyle, hit out at the critics.
Speaking before his side’s 2-1 loss to Sydney FC on Saturday, Tilio was asked if he had anything to say about critical fans.
“I think it’s a load of bulls**t to be honest,” he said. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and at the end of the day, we played the game. And as I said, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a photo with my biggest idol so I wasn’t going to let that down.”
The 21-year-old Tilio posted as much when he posted his photo.
“To be apart of something so special and to have learnt so much,” he wrote. “To then meeting my idol growing up and the best player in the world.
“I’m so grateful and feel blessed. Thank you Australia what an experience.”
