Just over nine years after giving Mat Ryan his senior debut as a professional, Graham Arnold is still creating special moments for the Socceroos goalkeeper.
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On Tuesday, Arnold handed Ryan the national team captaincy for the first time and the 27-year-old led Australia to a comprehensive 7-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Taiwan in Kaohsiung.
It's another milestone in a career that began when the pair were at the Central Coast Mariners in 2010.
Ryan was a teenager when Arnold gave him his A-League debut.
Now he's the second-most capped goalkeeper in Australia's history with his 58th appearance for the national team taking him past Zeljko Kalac (57).
"Growing up wanting to play for your country was obviously a dream. To be able to have lead them out will be something that will stay long in the memory bank," Ryan told AAP.
"We've got a lot of history together Arnie and I, obviously back at the Mariners and created many great memories along the way and for him to give me an opportunity to do that tonight.
"I'm so thankful for what he's done in my career and enabled me to progress and grow into the person and goalkeeper that I am today."
The only goalkeeper with more appearances for the Socceroos is overall record holder Mark Schwarzer on 110.
It's a tally that is surely well within Ryan's grasp given his hero-turned-mentor reached his 58th cap when he was 35 - eight years older than the Brighton & Hove Albion custodian's current age.
Despite the big night, Ryan was unhappy to lose his run of clean sheets in the qualifying campaign with Taiwan's 21st minute goal clearly a sore point post-match.
"Each game is a step to qualification and we just need to obviously keep fulfilling our goals and keeping our standards high, being ruthless and clinical and we've managed to do that so far," Ryan said.
"Slight disappointment in conceding a goal today, but from every performance there's stuff we can learn from and grow."
MOST APPEARANCES BY GOALKEEPERS FOR THE SOCCEROOS
110 - Mark Schwarzer
58 - Mat Ryan
57 - Zeljko Kalac
42 - Robert Zabica
40 - Allan Maher
(Source: Andrew Howe, @AndyHowe_statto)
Australian Associated Press