Aziz Behich mixed it with Messi and came agonisingly close to scoring one of the all-time great World Cup goals for Australia.
Now though, the 32-year-old’s full focus has switched to domestic duties and helping Dundee United dig themselves out of the large hole they currently found themselves in.
Behich was one of the Socceroos’ star men in Qatar as Graham Arnold’s side made it through to the last 16, before losing narrowly to eventual tournament winners Argentina.
During that epic match, the United man was involved in a bust-up with Lionel Messi and later the defender embarked on a remarkable run with a superb last-ditch tackle denying him what would have been a wonder goal.
However, Behich has drawn a line under those experiences to concentrate on helping the bottom-of-the-table Tangerines hit the ground running as they return to competitive action against Hearts at Tannadice this afternoon.
Behich insisted: “The full focus is on Dundee United now and that part of things, the World Cup, is over.
“We have big games coming up, starting with Hearts on Saturday, and we have to start picking up wins.
“Momentum and confidence will play a big part in the next few months, so we want to start off again on the front foot.
“If we can get a result this weekend it will set a tempo for the rest of the season.
“We are kicking off again at home, the boys have been training hard during the break and we’re ready to go.
“We were ready for Livingston last week but it wasn’t to be so we’re excited to finally get going this weekend.
“I have a job to do here and all my thinking is about helping the squad get out of the position we’re in.
“Our squad is too good to be where we’re at right now and as a squad we have to start picking up wins.”
Weather taking toll
Behich admitted that he hasn’t found the transition from Qatar to Dundee a difficult one with one notable exception.
The full-back said: “The only thing that has taken getting used to again has been the weather!
“I took four or five days off to recover but was then back in. I don’t have any injuries or anything so I’m raring to go again.
“The game being off last weekend gave me more of a chance to get back into it here, so we’re good to go for the Hearts game.”
Behich will have a quickfire reunion today with some of his Australia team-mates who play for Hearts – Nathaniel Atkinson, Cammy Devlin and Kye Rowles.
He added: “The Hearts boys are good lads and good players, that’s why they got recognised by the national side.
“It will be good to match up against fellow Aussies but they are opponents this weekend and friendships go on hold.”
After the Argentina game, Messi gave his shirt to Devlin however Behich insists memories are what he will treasure most from the tournament.
He stated: “Getting shirts is the last thing on my mind, to be honest.
“I have said before that I value the Australian shirt more than someone else’s and it’s more about enjoying the moment for me.
“We won two games, something our golden generation didn’t do, and we kept clean sheets – so it was a successful tournament.
“We took the eventual winners to the final minute as well so that shows how we performed.
“It’s about enjoying it with your team-mates because these things don’t come around very often.
“It’s my second World Cup, we didn’t get a win at the last one, so to be honest with you the last thing I’m thinking about is chasing someone around for their jersey!
“Memories are the things that last forever.”
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