“We can hold our heads high and know that it’s been the best finish that Socceroos have ever had at the World Cup, and that’s the standard for [the] younger generation coming through,” he said.

Socceroos fan Theo Dimandopoulos returned from Qatar on the same flight as the players.

He’s been to four World Cups, but this may have been his most memorable trip yet: After the win against Denmark, Dimandopoulos turned around to grab his Australian flag to celebrate - except it had been pinched by none other than Socceroos goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.

Dimandopoulos said the flag was safely returned, but not before the moment was immortalised on Ryan’s Instagram, where he posed with it wrapped around his shoulders.

Despite missing out on the field, Tilio managed to meet his childhood hero Lionel Messi, an experience he described as “unbelievable”.

“I was just so glad to be there in the end, and have that picture. [He’s] the best player in the world,” he said.

There’ll be no break for Tilio, who’s back at training on Tuesday morning.

Tilio said the negative attention over Qatar hosting the event, which has dominated headlines, didn’t affect the team’s play.

“If anything it worked in our favour being there so many times. We knew the climate and the pitches,” he said. “We won six out of eight games in our time over there, so we’re really happy with everything that happened over there.”

As for Deng, he’s off on a break before heading back to Japan, where he plays as a central defender for Japanese club Albirex Niigata.

“A lot of people didn’t expect us to go that far. Even in the end against Argentina, we almost got across the line,” Deng said. “As long as you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything.”

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