‘It was horrible’: But World Cup is helping Devlin mend his broken Heart

Berkeley: Of all the Socceroos at this World Cup, Cameron Devlin might just be the happiest to be here. It’s his second one, and the honour of a lifetime for the tenacious midfielder with the sunny disposition. For him, the feeling of playing for Australia never gets old.

But there is an added bonus: being here is helping him to wash away the pain he left behind in Scotland.

Devlin is still coming to terms with what happened on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season, as Heart of Midlothian’s heroic bid to end 40 years of Old Firm dominance ended in heartbreak and violence.

Being in the United States preparing for a World Cup is helping him to suppress his feelings about Hearts’ 3-1 defeat to Celtic and the ugly pitch invasion that followed, which forced him and the rest of his teammates to scurry off the pitch and jump on the team bus still in their playing strips.

“It was horrible, to be honest,” Devlin said. “The scenes you all would have seen, that’s not what football is about. Obviously, they won the game and they were the champions. But just the way it all happened, the last week with some of the decisions and stuff, it puts a bit of a sour taste on the ending to what was such a good season for such a special club.

“The end goal that we all wanted didn’t happen, which was so unfortunate. It’s just frustrating the way it finished, you know, just with all the fans running on the field. None of the players got hurt, but it wasn’t nice.

“At the end of the day, we didn’t quite get it over the line, which is something that will take a while [to process]. I’m quite fortunate I get to come in here … a World Cup’s a good thing to [help] forget about things back at club.”

It may yet be Devlin’s final memory as a Hearts player. He is off contract and still to decide whether to return to the Edinburgh club, where he has spent the last five years, or test himself elsewhere.

World Cup selection is not only a welcome distraction from the anguish, but the best possible shop window a player could ask for – though the only coach he is only worried about trying to impress right now is Tony Popovic.

“I know I’ve got a massive decision to make,” said Devlin, who celebrated his 28th birthday in camp on Sunday (local time).

“[But] you don’t really want any distractions. You just want to focus on this, do as well as I can for my country. This is the pinnacle for any sportsman, so to be focusing on someone else at the moment is probably not the right thing to do.”

Only a few weeks ago, Devlin appeared to be long odds to make the squad, having been named for the last World Cup but left on the bench for the duration. His first minutes under Popovic only came in Australia’s 1-1 warm-up draw with Switzerland; until midfielder Patrick Yazbek hurt his quad in early May, there did not appear to be room for him in Popovic’s plans.

He would prefer not to spend this World Cup as he did the last: not playing.

“I had 10 minutes to do as best I could to put my best foot forward,” Devlin said. “My dad reminded me after, it was more or less two years since I’d played for the Socceroos, which I didn’t know because I’ve been here a lot; I just haven’t played. Whatever role I’m given to be in this squad is always so special and something I don’t take for granted. I just want to play more, and hopefully I can do that.”

Injury could yet open up an opportunity for someone else. Utility Kai Trewin was spotted leaving the Socceroos’ team hotel on Sunday afternoon, getting into a car with Andrew McKenzie, Football Australia’s general manager of high performance, and team doctor Mark Jones.

Comment has been sought from the Socceroos as to whether Trewin was being taken to have scans. He played 81 minutes in the draw with Switzerland, initially at right wing-back and then in midfield for the second half. The team held a closed recovery session the day after the game.

Trewin’s versatility makes the 25-year-old a valuable member of the squad and difficult to replace, should it come to that. Teams at the World Cup have until 24 hours before their first game to make a change to their squad due to injury.

The Socceroos open their campaign on Sunday (AEST) against Turkey in Vancouver.

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