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Socceroos captain Mat Ryan has hit back at his FC Copenhagen teammate Kamil Grabara after the Poland international ridiculed him on social media in the wake of a costly mistake in the 2-1 FIFA World Cup loss to Argentina.
- Ryan and Grabara are rivals for the starting goalkeeper spot at FC Copenhagen
- Grabara tweeted that "politics" were behind the gaffe that gifted Argentina their second goal, referring to comments Ryan made earlier this season
- Ryan has earned 79 caps for Australia compared to a single Poland appearance by Grabara
Ryan was caught in possession midway through the second half in the Round of 16 game as he tried to dribble the ball out of his six-yard box, gifting Argentina their second goal through Julián Álvarez
Although the Socceroos cut the deficit with Craig Goodwin's deflected shot in the 77th minute, Ryan's blunder proved to be the decisive moment of the match.
Grabara, the 23-year-old goalkeeper who has kept Ryan out of FC Copenhagen starting side, immediately took to Twitter to troll the former Premier League shot stopper.
"Must have been politics, for sure," Grabara tweeted, alongside a smirking face emoji.
Ryan had claimed earlier in the season that club politics were behind his demotion to the FC Copenhagen bench in favour of the ex-Liverpool back-up keeper.
But Grabara argued that the selection change was due to form, claiming that FC Copenhagen had been leaking goals with Ryan between the sticks, falling to ninth place on the Superliga table.
"I don't see any competition for the goalkeeper position," Grabara told Danish media in October, adding that he and Ryan were "not friends".
When asked about Grabara's Twitter jibe, Ryan tried to brush it off.
"I'm not surprised with you, to be honest," Ryan told reporters after the Argentina loss.
"His opinion doesn't really concern me."
Twitter users were quick to come to Ryan's defence, pointing out that the 30-year-old gloveman had an excellent tournament before his gaffe, keeping clean sheets in back-to-back wins over Tunisia and Denmark in the group stage.
Fox Sports host Adam Peacock simply gave Grabara the nickname of "Grubara" while veteran football commentator Andy Paschalidis described the 23-year-old Pole as a "keyboard warrior with a limited playing CV".
Grabara is playing second fiddle to Juventus and former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny in Qatar, having made just one international appearance — against Wales in the UEFA Nations League in June.
In contrast, Ryan has 79 caps to his name, playing in every game of three consecutive World Cups for the Socceroos, having made his debut against Saudi Arabia in February 2012.
But despite his stellar international form, Ryan has struggled for game time at club level since leaving Brighton & Hove Albion in January 2021.
After playing just three times in La Liga during a short stint for Real Sociedad in 2021-22, he hoped for more minutes in Denmark, but has made just 11 appearances for FC Copenhagen in all competitions this season.
Australia coach Graham Arnold was quick to come to Ryan's defence, calling him a "fantastic player and a fantastic captain".
"Everyone makes mistakes and you've got to learn from it, get over it and move forward. I'm sure that Maty will," Arnold said.
Ryan, himself, vowed to "come back stronger" from the unfortunate incident.
"We learn from our hardships in life and it's definitely one for me," he said.
"It hurts a lot, but I won't let it get the better of me or define me. I'll come back stronger for it."
Ryan could leave FC Copenhagen as soon as next month's January transfer window, with England a possible destination.
The Central Coast Mariners product played three games on loan for Premier League giants Arsenal, before joining Real Sociedad.