It all started getting very real for Patrick Beach when he walked into the Socceroos’ dressing room at Shell Energy Stadium.
There on the teamsheet was his name, confirming his place in the starting XI that would face Venezuela and become the 654th man to represent Australia on the international stage.
Named as part of the Socceroos keepers union for the November international window alongside Maty Ryan and Paul Izzo last week – his first official call-up after previously serving as a train-on player ahead of the Roos’ meeting with Indonesia in March – the 22-year-old hadn’t expected to play this window.
Coming into camp alongside Ryan, the team’s captain and one of just three men to make 100 appearances in green and gold, and Izzo, who set the record for the most saves in a single game last month against Canada, he’d entered expecting the coming weeks to serve as something of a learning experience; a chance to soak up the knowledge of the two veterans like a sponge and use that as a platform to continue to raise his game.
But after impressing coach Tony Popovic and Socceroo goalkeeping coach Frank Juric across the opening month of the 2025-26 A-League Men season – Juric an almost constant presence at City home games during this period – a strong opening few sessions in Texas opened the door for Beach to don the gloves. And a couple of hours after seeing his name up on the teamsheet, the keeper was seeing it emblazoned on the big screen at Shell Energy Stadium – serenaded by a smattering of boos by the mostly Venezuelan crowd – as he took his position between the posts.
“I think it was seeing my name on the team sheet a couple of hours before the game, and then letting that sink in,” Beach reflected.
“And then, when you get out in the field and you’re standing there and the anthem is going and you’re thinking of a whole variety of emotions, of the family that you know supported you the whole way through and your last twenty years playing football every week and trying to get to this one point. It’s a pretty emotional feeling at that point.
“Just being picked for this camp was a massive surprise and a real honour. Maty and Paul are top, top keepers, and I’ve done everything to absorb the most from them and just keep learning off them. Then being selected to play the game was just, just the biggest surprise – I did not expect it at all. Just being able to get out there and have my first cap and kick on from there was great.”
Taking position just in front of Beach, celebrating his own lifelong dream by becoming Socceroo number 656, was his City teammate, Kai Trewin.
Unlike Beach, this wasn’t his first official time in camp. Popovic and staff have clearly seen something they like in the 24-year-old, already bringing him in to serve as a part of the squad that secured automatic qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup through wins over Indonesia, China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. But while this meant that he got so experience that moment in Jeddah where goals from another City product in Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke punched Australia’s tickets to North America next year, that elusive senior international appearance had remained elusive. Until Friday.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” said Trewin. “There’s so much hard work that’s been put into it. Since I was a little boy, it was my dream to become a Socceroo, and for that to happen, it’s really surreal. And I’m really grateful for the opportunity.
“It’s all probably come a bit quicker than I expected. I’m very lucky that I got the opportunity to come to Melbourne City, and everything they’ve done for me, all the coaching staff and the backroom staff, have helped me and kept pushing me along, giving me this opportunity to get to where I am today and become a Socceroo last night.”
“It’s been a really quick year. It feels like the time has moved so fast, from winning the Grand Final probably six months ago, and now I’m playing for the Socceroos. It’s been a really quick time. But I’ve enjoyed it. I’m loving my time at Melbourne City; if I hadn’t made the move, I don’t think I would be a Socceroo today.”
Ultimately, Beach and Trewin’s debuts didn’t have the fairytale ending they would have hoped for: the Socceroos an obvious second-best against the Venezuelans as they fell to a 1-0 defeat. And the first thing that almost any player will tell you, especially one who knows what it takes to win trophies, is that team success trumps individual glory at the end of the day.
But on an individual level, neither of the City products was disgraced on Friday evening. Beach, in fact, was arguably Australia’s best player on the evening: making a series of huge saves to deny the South Americans, including two headers from Jesus Ramirez that could have delivered him a hat-trick.
Trewin, meanwhile, played a full 90 minutes alongside stand-in skipper Miloš Degenek and Jason Geria (as well as Cam Burgess when Geria was forced off injured) at centreback, and alongside his defensive contributions demonstrated his comfort level on the ball by completing all but one of his 46 passes.
Beach and Trewin’s debuts now make it six Socceroos in City’s dressing room this A-League Men – the duo joining Mat Leckie, Nathaniel Atkinson, Andrew Nabbout, and skipper Aziz Behich as green and gold options for a staff led by Aurelio Vidmar, himself a 44-time international, and featuring Scott Jammieson, a four-time Socceroo.
“I’m so lucky that I’ve been able to share a change room with those guys,” said Trewin.
“They’re top professionals, and those standards, they keep them every single day. I’ve been able to see that with my own eyes. And I’m just trying to follow them and copy them, almost. It’s definitely put me where I am today, and they keep pushing me along.”
Beach, for his part, was tapped as a starter ahead of the 2024-25 season by Vidmar and goalkeeping coach Sander Krabbendam and has consistently been backed since; his Head Coach repeatedly emphasising to media that the special talent the youngster possessed merited backing through any kind of growing pains or adjustments to the professional and being rewarded by his blossoming into a Socceroo.
Across four games this A-League Men season, Beach, shielded by Trewin and Germán Ferreyra in front of him, has conceded just a single goal across four games, as well as providing a Hurcelean performance in an upset win over Machida Zelvia in the Asian Champions League Elite.
“It’s lovely, it’s great to have that backing and that support from your staff and the team,” said Beach. “Their backing is great, and I really feel it. I think every player feels that in that team, the staff are behind every player who goes on that pitch and performs. I think that’s why the results have come, and you can see everyone really getting stuck in and trying to work for each other.”
Beach, Trewin and the rest of their Socceroos’ immediate focus will now shift to next Tuesday, when they will meet 13th-ranked Colombia at Citi Field in New York. After the disappointing result and performance against the Venezuelans, a response will be demanded by Popovic, who now has only three games remaining until he needs to name his 26-player squad for next year’s global showpiece.
The duo will then return to Australia ahead of City’s away clash against Adelaide United on November 2. And, with some hints of adrenaline still evident at the recovery session the day after his debut, Beach says they’ll come back invigorated.
“It gives me the world of confidence, because you’re coming into camp with players at another level and who are doing it in top leagues around the world,” said Beach. “And then you’re basing yourself on them and working against them in training, and really testing yourself.
“It gives me the world of confidence to go back to the league and really kick on even more so and try and help Melbourne City as much as possible to achieve something again this year for sure.
“And it was special to make a debut with Kai. We’ve spent a lot of time fighting and playing together, and Kai is great. We get on great – having that connection to the last year and a half at City and earlier with Olyroos a couple of years ago as well. To be able to make our debut together was a special moment and something we’ll both remember for sure.”
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