By Hibernian FC

It was a proud moment for Martin Boyle when he pulled on the green and gold shirt earlier this year against India in the Socceroos’ opening group game at the Asia Cup. 

The moment marked a special milestone for Boyler, representing the Socceroos at a major tournament for the first time – at the third time of asking. 

A combination of bad luck, bad timing and bad injuries meant Boyle missed out on the Asia Cup in 2019 days before the tournament began, suffering a similar fate three years later at the Qatar World Cup. 

During the in-depth interview with HQ Magazine, Boyle opened up on some of the highs and lows of his international career so far and how he overcame some major set-backs in his career.

Read the full interview in HQ magazine! 

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“The injury before the Qatar World Cup wasn’t twice as bad – it was definitely worse. I went through a really bad stage in my life that I haven’t really opened up about.

“I was struggling badly but I probably hid it quite well because I am quite chirpy around the place. But I wasn’t in a good place, I wasn’t myself and my wife took the brunt of that – but she supported me and I spoke to a few people to get me through it.

“The amount of things I got done to my knee, or the amount of things I did to try and play through it was insane. It was a lot, I tried everything and it just wasn’t to be. 

“In the end, I went in for surgery hoping to be done and be back playing in six weeks. 

“Then you wake up and you have doctors and surgeons telling you that they have fully reconstructed your knee. My cruciate wasn’t stable from an injury that was seven years old, it was mind-blowing and I didn’t react that well to it. It was tough, really tough.”

 

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During the feature interview, Boyle goes on to explain how he bounced back both on and off the pitch, his interaction and conversation with childhood idol – Lionel Messi – at the World Cup, and how it felt to represent Australia at a major tournament.

“You could probably say it came as a relief after missing two major tournaments! But my family came out and thankfully I managed to play in it.

“I think I merited my selection, in terms of performances for the Club and I wasn’t just picked because people felt sorry for me. 

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“I deserved it, and thankfully I managed to go there and score a few goals. It didn’t pan out the way that we had wanted it to, we were two minutes away from a semi-final but that happens in football, these are the emotions you go through and the highs and the lows.”

Read the full interview in HQ Magazine!