Our first honorable mention goes to Syria head coach Ayman Hakeem, who performed miracles in getting his side to accomplish so much despite playing all of their home games outside of their country. Their Cinderella run through World Cup qualifying ended only in the last hour with a narrow defeat to Australia. Syria not only gave the Socceroos a strong run for their money: they were also the only team to score against Iran in the qualifying phase, a testament to their pluckiness. One can only imagine the inspirational locker room talks Ayman provided to his players, who represented a war-torn nation in complicated circumstances.
