<
>

Socceroos support defender Bailey Wright after family bereavement

The Socceroos will rally around Bailey Wright after the tragic news that the defender's mother-in-law passed away just hours after he played a role in helping Australia secure progression to the World Cup round of 16.

Wright, 30, was thrown on by coach Graham Arnold in the 74th minute of Australia's clash with Denmark to shore up their defence and played a key role in the furious action that secured a 1-0 win.

What none in the Aussie travelling party knew, however, was that the Sunderland captain was taking the field with a heavy heart.

Visibly distressed after receiving a message from his wife after the full-time whistle, Wright revealed that his mother-in-law was seriously ill to the world in the post-game mixed zone.

"I was kind of dedicating this to my wife and her mum," Wright said. "I'm not ... I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure she's still with us.

"They're having a really tough time back home, but ultimately they've made this possible for me to be here and live one of my dreams. So I dedicate that to Tammy. Bless her. I hope she's still with us."

Wright had kept his family's situation from the team and its staff, who were just as stunned as the travelling press pack to hear the news.

"It's sort of something I've kept to myself, we've all got a lot going on," he said.

Unfortunately, Wright received the devastating news on Thursday morning that his mother-in-law had passed away, withdrawing from a media conference just minutes before its scheduled commencement.

His teammate Milos Degenek said that the team would now rally around their "brother" heading into their round of 16 game against Argentina.

"My condolences go out to his family and his wife's family," Degenek said. "Especially for his wife with two kids, it's something that no one wants to wish upon anyone and I think it's a very hard moment for her and for him as well.

"He knows that we are his second family, we're going to be behind him and if there's anything that any of us can do or the Federation can do at this moment, I know that Football Australia will do [it] and we as a team, as a brotherhood are gonna do the same. If any of us can help we will. We're all behind them.

"It shows you what we as footballers go through sometimes and what we put our families through. It's not just a couple of training sessions a week and a 90-minute game where 40,000 come and watch you and you get paid big dollars and everyone you know you don't care how you play.

"So it's a lot more emotions and a lot more things are involved in football than just, you know, playing."

Socceroos manager Arnold added that the team will support Bailey "like we rally around everone."

"That's part of my way, my culture, the family culture. He's devastated and as I just said to him, it's crazy these things in life when something special happens, something gets taken away. And Bailey, he's OK. The whole team and everyone's caring for his wife. But Bailey's is OK."