Australia drew 0-0 with Paraguay in the final match of the FIFA World Cup group stage, and Hrustic gave an interview in the FIFA mixed zone after the match.

How are you feeling right now?

Good. Obviously, I'd rather be in the dressing room celebrating with my teammates right now, but I'll give you two minutes first.

You finished second in the group. What does finishing second mean to you after such a difficult and competitive match? Especially after the tough game against the United States—is this achieving the goals you set step by step?

Absolutely. Finishing second in the group, you should be proud of your performance. I think overall we played well in all three matches. Maybe just the first half against the United States wasn't good enough and needs improvement, but we will improve. We have the capability to do it. Besides that, I think overall we were very solid and created good attacking opportunities in the final third.

The right wing positioning today was different from what the coach usually does. What do you think about its impact? Of course, you also contributed on that side in the second half.

I enjoyed playing with him. The boss is a very good player. He had a great impact, as you can see. He played well and executed his role very well like Italiano normally does. Now it depends on what position he'll be deployed in the next match.

You also played against Denmark four years ago. Is the excitement less compared to that time? What are the different feelings about advancing to the knockout stage in both instances?

As long as you advance, it's always a special moment, isn't it? Whether the process is easy or difficult, advancing itself is something special. It's not something that comes easily. We worked very hard for this moment. So I think what matters most is enjoying it.

How is your mood now?

To be honest, I feel a bit of relief. I can breathe easy, relax, and truly enjoy this moment.

Was your heart pounding when Bich made that save in the final minute?

Not at all. I have complete confidence in Bich.

Theoretically, it seems like this could be an easier path to advance. What do you think will happen next?

There's no easy path in the FIFA World Cup. You need focus and 100 percent commitment. We saw in the game against the United States that if you lose focus for just 20 minutes, you can concede two goals and practically hand the game to your opponent.

The team made six positional changes today and performed well. How does this build your confidence? The team needs more diversity and the ability to adapt to different situations as we enter the knockout stage.

Our coach knows what he's doing, and we all trust him. To be honest, I don't think he'll use the exact same starting lineup two or three matches in a row. He's done an excellent job, and I believe he makes decisions based on intuition. He did that in the first match, the second match, and the third match, and it worked every time. So we trust him.

Can you tell us about the boss playing right wing? Has he trained in that position before? Or were you surprised when you saw this lineup?

Actually, as you know, we didn't have much training time. But he's very focused. We had two training sessions where we worked on tactics, and he seemed to adapt very well. I even asked him if he'd ever played right wing or right back before. I started calling him "Dani Alves."

You now have about 8 days of rest and at least you know the venue, even if you don't know the opponent yet. How much of an advantage is this?

Hopefully we can rest for a day or two, relax, and genuinely enjoy this moment of advancing. After that, we'll need to refocus and get back to preparing right away.

What do you want to do on your day off?

I'll keep that a secret. You figure out the answer yourself.

Do you have a preference for an opponent in the next match? Will you watch those matches tomorrow?

No. Whatever happens will happen, and you can't change it.

Many people didn't have much hope for this team before the tournament started. How does it feel to prove them wrong?

Well, they can keep writing. What else can I say? We did our job and made the country proud. Now we'll enjoy this moment and try to go as far as we can.

Reaching the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup twice in a row says what about the team? This is the first time Australia has done this.

It shows who we are as a nation, as players, and as people who want to succeed in life.

You advanced as group runners-up. Isn't that even more special? Regardless of the expanded format, you would have advanced anyway with 32 teams.

Yes.

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