Surreal”. Keanu Baccus used the phrase “magical” to describe his spectacular, historic World Cup debut against France.
The St. Mirren midfielder came off the bench for Australia on Tuesday night, making him the first member of the team to ever represent his nation on the biggest platform in the beautiful game.
The former Hibs star, now 24 years old, came on to replace Jackson Irvine in the 85th minute, making his childhood ambition of competing for the Socceroos at a World Cup come true in grand style.
A tremendously lovely moment for Baccus came when he crossed the white line onto the pitch to make history for his club and his family, despite the fact that the Australians ultimately lost 4-1 to the reigning world champions.
Now that he’s in Qatar, he’s keen to create even more memories. The box-to-box fighter hopes to participate once again when the Socceroos play Tunisia tomorrow morning.
Baccus remarked in an exclusive interview with Renfrewshire Live Sport from the Australian Aspire Academy’s Doha training facility: “It was unreal.
“Getting on the field to play France was such a great sensation. I’ve wished for it ever since I was a young boy.
“When I was younger, I used to watch the World Cup, but it’s difficult to think so far into the future when you’re young and have little to no life experience.
