Riley McGree had two dreams within his grasp: playing in the Premier League and representing the Socceroos at a second FIFA World Cup.
asserted
McGree → have → Cup
Then, in one cruel moment, his hamstring snapped and both were snatched away.
asserted
both → snap → moment
For as long as he could, he tried to delude himself into thinking he had actually lost nothing, until the reality of his heartbreak was no longer possible to deny.
“I was a little bit in denial, and convinced myself … what did I convince myself?” McGree tells
uncertain
McGree → try → myself
“Probably that I was never going to go to the World Cup.
asserted
I → go → Cup
You know what I mean?
asserted
I → know → what
I almost convinced myself the World Cup wasn’t on; the play-off final, there wasn’t anything at stake in that game, that it just happened and it wasn’t a thing.
asserted
it → convince → game
I got pretty upset, and it hit me pretty hard.
asserted
it → get → me
If there was a Ballon d’Or for misfortune, McGree would be on the shortlist.
asserted
McGree → be → shortlist
What happened to him in the final weeks of last season was almost too ridiculous to be true, but was perfectly in line with how his career has tracked since he starred at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
asserted
he → happen → Qatar
McGree has been beset by injuries over the past three years, costing him dozens of matches for Middlesbrough and repeatedly interrupting a career that seemed destined for the Premier League.
asserted
that → beset → League
But none was as cruelly timed as the hamstring tear at Wembley Stadium in the Championship play-off final on May 23, a match he would not have played in were it not for the spying scandal which engulfed English football.
uncertain
which → time → football
Two weeks earlier, just before they met Southampton in the first leg of their play-off semi-final, McGree recalls Middlesbrough’s club photographer showing players a photo he had taken at training featuring a suspicious figure lurking in the background with a camera.
asserted
he → meet → camera
The suspicious figure was an analyst sent to Boro’s training grounds by Southampton manager Tonda Eckert, and revelations followed that this was not a one-off, but a pattern of behaviour.
asserted
this → send → behaviour
The two-legged semi-final unfolded while an English Football League investigation was ongoing; Southampton prevailed 2-1 on aggregate, but the saga left a bad taste in Boro’s mouths, and their manager Kim Hellberg accused them of cheating.
asserted
manager → legge → cheating
McGree’s season was over, yet there remained a chance that if Southampton could be kicked out of the play-offs, they could be reinstated.
uncertain
they → remain → offs
Boro continued to train in that hope, but McGree, who otherwise would have flown to the Socceroos’ pre-World Cup camp in Florida, was not optimistic.
asserted
who → continue → Florida
A few hours after the EFL’s disciplinary committee hearing, he was sitting on his couch with his partner when the news filtered through via the team’s group chat: Southampton were expelled from the play-offs and Boro would replace them in the final against Hull City.
asserted
Boro → sit → City
Suddenly, McGree had a game to prepare for - and not any old game, but the one known as the richest in English football.
asserted
McGree → have → football
I was shocked, in pure shock, and really taken aback by it - and then we had like three days to prepare,” he said.
asserted
he → shock → days
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic, his staff and some players who had already arrived in camp were watching the game from Florida, eager to see one of the national team’s most important players reach the promised land of the Premier League.
asserted
one → arrive → League
It was scoreless when, with about 15 minutes left, much to their horror, McGree’s hamstring gave way as he overextended his leg.
asserted
he → leave → leg
He knew it was a bad one, straight away.
asserted
it → know → ?
“Sure enough, it was as bad as it could have gotten,” he says.
uncertain
it → get → ?
McGree sometimes ponders the alternate universe in which he doesn’t go off injured.
asserted
he → ponder → which
Perhaps they win.
asserted
they → win → ?
“I was playing decent, and I thought we were growing in the game,” he says.
asserted
he → play → game
“I always wonder, like, if I ... maybe that wouldn’t happen.
asserted
that → wonder → ?
Instead, Hull City scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to win promotion, Eckert escaped with a six-week suspended ban, and McGree had to come to terms with the implications of both the result and his injury, which ruled him out of the World Cup.
asserted
which → score → Cup
He had already organised for a family and friends group of 14 to travel to North America to watch him play for the Socceroos.
asserted
him → organise → Socceroos
After briefly contemplating a holiday in Europe to get away, he went anyway.
asserted
he → contemplate → Europe
“Everyone was like, yeah, f--- it, let’s do it.
asserted
’s → f--- → it
Why not?” he says.
asserted
he → say → ?
For the first time, McGree experienced a World Cup as a supporter, discovering a different kind of emotional rollercoaster.
asserted
McGree → experience → rollercoaster
“As a player you can somewhat control the outcome of the game,” he says.
asserted
he → control → game
“It’s like clockwork.
asserted
It → ’ → clockwork
You’re used to the emotions before a game, after a game.
asserted
You → ’re → game
But it’s so unpredictable as a fan … you really are rooting, and you get nervous.”
asserted
you → ’ → fan
Before Australia’s final group-stage fixture against Paraguay, in which they had to avoid defeat to secure their spot in the knockout round, Popovic asked McGree to address the team and deliver the final words they would hear before kick-off.
asserted
they → have → off
McGree spent the day rehearsing his speech, anxious to make the moment count - but when he stood in front of his teammates, almost everything he had prepared vanished.
asserted
he → spend → teammates
“I got out about 10 per cent of that and then it just left my brain,” he says.
asserted
he → get → brain
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
