AAP Soccer

Socceroo suffers spot-kick nightmare in European KO

By Glenn Moore

Aug 27, 2026

Marco Tilio has missed the decisive penalty for Rapid Vienna as the Austrian side was knocked out of the UEFA Conference League by Hearts.

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The Austrian team had led the play-off 1-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate when Hearts had Tomas Magnusson sent off in the 76th minute.

Progress seemed assured for the hosts but Hearts forced extra-time through Landry Kabore before taking a shock lead via Calvin Miller's spectacular volley.

Tilio came on in the 102nd-minute as Rapid chased the equaliser, which they secured in the 119th minute. That meant penalties.

Vienna failed first but Oisin McEntee, with the chance to put Hearts through, had his kick saved. That left Tilio needing to score at 3-4 to push the spot-kicks into sudden death. But Hearts' Dutch keeper Beau Reus saved his kick.

There was better fortune for twice-capped Socceroo Gianni Stensness, who helped Norwegian club Viking Stavanger reach the lucrative group stage of the Champions League after winning a two-leg play-off against Dinamo Zagreb.

Viking, who also featured New Zealand's Joe Bell, won 3-1 on the night to progress 5-3 on aggregate.

Also progressing through the play-offs were AEK Athens and Fenerbahce, defeating Levski Sofia and Lyon respectively.