Dallas, Texas – Lucas Herrington stands over the penalty spot. It;s the fourth round of the penalty shootout of the Round of 32. The 18-year-old had just played 120 minutes against Egypt in a World Cup knockout game. He runs up and goes high and to the right. The ball goes off the crossbar and out. The “unflappable” and reserved Herrington wipes his face with the hem of his shirt. Egypt make their next penalty, eliminating Australia.
A penalty kick is the harshest way to go out of a World Cup. It leaves the player(s) who miss to blame. Very quickly the media and the football world did anything but with the Socceroos’ center back.
On the Fox broadcast, Jacqui Oatley immediately said, “Questions will be asked why an 18-year-old and two central defenders are taking penalties here.”
Upon Fox returning to studio, Thierry Henry said, “Don’t be upset. You go there, taking it. You miss. I feel for you. Keep your head up. I’m thinking about the guy who allowed him to go. This is not on you. Fair play to you.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic followed up with his quote of the tournament. “My friend, you’re the best. Don’t listen to the rest.”
“This is just the beginning of your career. You stepping up there, you show a lot of courage. Not everybody would do that.”
“Herrington, if you want to reach out, I’m here.”
“You’re the best. Don’t listen to the rest,” might be my favorite Zlatan quote of the tournament. Alexi Lalas was not in studio for this segment.
Herrington posted a black and white photo of himself on Instagram the next day, with the caption, “Gave it our all. Grateful to be a part of this special group, we’ll be back. Thank you Australia for the support as always, moments I’ll never forget.”
He also spoke during mixed zone to the media, something players who miss penalties don’t always do. He had measured answers to reasonable questions. His club posted support of him. A random German fan compared him to Leon Goretzka, who never took a penalty in a shootout when Germany was in one, despite playing for the national team till the age of 31.
Lucas Herrington will be remembered for this penalty miss, for only good reasons. Bravery and humility go a long way, even for a teenager who’s drawn interest from Liverpool and Barcelona.
The player has been on a meteoric rise the last 12 months. Last summer, he signed a pre-transfer from his hometown Brisbane Roar to Colorado Rapids. He immediately impressed in preseason and has started all but one game for the MLS side, all competitions.
A good start to the MLS season earned him his first senior call-up for the Australia senior team in March. He played 90 minutes in a 1-0 win over Cameroon and was Man of the Match. Then in April, he had an amazing ten day period. Games against Inter Miami, LAFC, and Vancouver Whitecaps saw him defend Lionel Messi, Heung-min Son, and Thomas Müller. His parents were in attendance.
Read More: The Lucas Herrington Story: How an 18-Year-Old Made the World Cup
He had a great assist against Miami and they narrowly lost. Colorado were the better team in a scoreless draw in Los Angeles. Sonny called them the best defense he’d faced all season. Herrington was hardly the worst player in a poor performance at Vancouver.
The rockmellon-loving Brisbane boy played well enough to get added to camp before the World Cup. He started a friendly at the Rose Bowl against Mexico, a 1-0 win for El Tri. He played well enough in an organized back three where clearances and being good in the air mattered.
After two games, Herrington had been an unused sub. He started in a back three in a must-result game against Paraguay. The Aussies were the better team in a low-attacking 0-0 draw. After that performance, Harry Souttar called Herrington a “Rolls-Royce” of a defender. He did well enough in the defensive structure while being a bright spot on the ball.
Herrington had some interesting comments going into this game. He compared playing the FIFA video game and defending against Mohammed Salah.
“I’ve been defending Salah since I was about 8,” he said. “Back then I was controlling Sergio Ramos from my bedroom.”
“Now I’m doing it myself, lol.”
A 6.6 rating on FotMob. Salah had two shot attempts before penalties. Most of the time, he went out right, to where Herrington was at left center back. The teenager was rather aggressive, which maybe was outside the structure of Tony Popovic’s system. His other center backs made simple work of the ball into the box when that happened.
If he makes that penalty, his performance would have been as good as expected. Regardless of who won the penalties.
Much was made of the tactics and the penalty selection. The captain Souttar took the first one and skied it over the bar. That was his first competitive international penalty, just like Herrington. So two of your first four penalty takers selected by the coach were center backs. Herrington taking one was a testament to him and a knock against his teammates.
His reaction and the reaction the world has had to his miss is a testament to him.
To say nothing of Popovic subbing out goalkeeper Patrick Beach for Maty Ryan without preparing them. Ryan conceded on all four penalties faced.
Herrington is one of the brightest stars in a potential golden generation for the Socceroos. They’re ready for a more protagonist style of play. Maybe they needed that this tournament. In 120 minutes, they had just one shot on goal. Their goal was an own goal. They’ve been extra conservative since the opening win over Türkiye. Neither goalscorer from that game started the match against the USMNT.
Despite being 6’4″, he still needs to grow into his body. His best attributes are his technical skills. He’s press resistant. He’s great at slowing things down in possession or playing an attacking pass out of the back.
Everyone at the Rapids and national team says nothing seems to phase him. The first thing that’s really affected him was this missed penalty. He has a good support network around him between his club, country, and family. He’ll be alright.
Ekrem Konur is reporting that he’s now valued at €25 million ($28.59 million) with Napoli joining the group of teams interested.
He’s been amazing with the Rapids. I increasingly doubt he’ll be with the team at the start of the 2027 season. The sky is the limit. His willingness to take the penalty says more than him missing said penalty by a few inches ever could.
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Spencer Baldwin 
Eamon Shaw 