Soccer
Who is Australia's dancing goalkeeper? Socceroos' World Cup hero Andrew Redmayne becomes instant sensation
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The footballing world has a new meme: The dancing goalkeeper.
Andrew Redmayne subbed into Australia's World Cup qualifying play-off game on Monday against Peru and, within minutes, became a viral sensation. The 33-year-old goalkeeper had featured just three previous times for the Socceroos before being inserted in the 120th minute as a penalty kick specialist by head coach Graham Arnold, with the match tied 0-0 and headed for a shootout to determine which of the two sides would advance to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
No pressure, right?
After Peruvian 'keeper Pedro Gallese stopped Australia's first attempt, Redmayne strolled to the goal line and proceeded to dance back and forth, seemingly trying to get into the kickers' heads. It didn't work at first — both Gianluca Lapadula and Alexander Callens easily fired the ball past the the spaghetti-legged goalkeeper — but on Peru's third attempt Luis Advíncula struck the post. With Australia not missing another attempt through the remainder of the shootout, it fell to Redmayne to make a stop, and he did just that on Peru's sixth kicker, Alex Valera.
The bearded 'keeper then struck a pose and broke out into a big, open-mouthed smile, seemingly in on the meme potential of the moment as he moved only his head while the broadcast camera zoomed in on his face before his teammates rushed over to celebrate.
Aside from the five minutes that led to his fame, Redmayne isn't well-known around the world. DAZN takes a look at the goalkeeper who heads to Qatar already a legend.
Who is Andrew Redmayne?
Andrew James Redmayne is a well-travelled goalkeeper who is a longtime member of Sydney FC in the A-League.
Born on 13 January 1989 in Gosford, Australia, the 6-foot-4 Redmayne trained at the New South Wales Institute of Sport and Australian Institute of Sport before starting his professional career.
Who has Andrew Redmayne played for?
As noted, Redmayne is a stalwart in goal for Sydney FC. He's been with the club since 2017 and has made over 140 appearance in all competitions.
Redmayne has also played for the Central Coast Mariners (2008-10), Brisbane Roar (2010-12), Melbourne City (2012-15) and Western Sydney Wanderers (2015-17). He's a five-time A-League champion.
Why was Andrew Redmayne chosen for the penalty shootout?
Australian No. 1 Mathew Ryan had kept a clean sheet through 90 minutes of normal time and 30 minutes of extra time, but just before the final whistle he was subbed out in favour of Redmayne.
Arnold gambled on Redmayne's unorthodox penalty kick routine to push his team past the Peruvians, and it worked.
The Aussie coach had obviously seen Redmayne's technique in training, but records of the goalkeeper's previous penalty kick performances show that, according to Transfermarkt, he has saved four penalties (of 31) over the course of his career.
