MAT Ryan had assumed playing at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil would be the best moment of his career but it quickly descended in to an ordeal he now describes as the hardest ten days of his life.

Over the course of three group games, Ryan conceded nine goals as Australia suffered defeats to Chile, the Netherlands and Spain to become one of the first teams to be knocked out of the tournament.

A low point came in the second game against the Dutch, when Ryan allowed a long shot from Memphis Depay to squirm through his hands to give them a 3-2 win and confirm Australia’s exit.

“That World Cup experience was the hardest few days of my life, there’s no doubt about that,” Ryan told foxsports.com.au.

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“It was the biggest learning curve of my career, and I think I was a little bit in awe of the enormity of the whole tournament.

“I wanted to be ready, but maybe wasn’t. It was my first taste of football at that level, and everything was amplified.”

At the time, Ryan was 22-years-old, and had only played in Europe for one season, after joining the Belgian side Club Brugge from Central Coast Mariners the previous year.

“My biggest error was thinking I needed to change my game because it was the World Cup,” he says.

“I should have played my natural game, and what allowed me to get there in the first place.”

Upon his return from Brazil, Ryan knew he had to spend the four years leading up to the World Cup in Russia improving and learning from the difficult and draining experience.

It’s exactly what he’s done, even if his club journey to the Premier League hasn’t been an easy one.

Spain’s Fernando Torres scores past Mat Ryan at the 2014 World Cup. Source: Getty Images

Ryan will arrive at the World Cup as a significantly better player having established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in England’s top flight with Brighton & Hove Albion in the last season.

“I have now played a lot more games against the top teams, so I am more accomplished to deal with the speed and intensity of games,” he said.

“The more games you play, the better you get.

“I am making the most of playing against the best players in the world.”

Brighton manager Chris Hughton told foxsports.com.au of Ryan: “he’s been absolutely brilliant for us since he joined last year.”

Ryan’s agility and shot-stopping in between the posts has been one of the main reasons the club avoided relegation.

“This past season has been the perfect build-up to the World Cup,” Ryan tells me at Brighton’s training ground, just outside the city on England’s south coast.

“I was speaking with my agent after we beat Manchester United, and said, ‘Coming here was a really great decision.’

“I have loved it here, because it has allowed me to play regularly.

“I have enjoyed every minute of being at Brighton. It is a real family club, so I feel so at home here, and love how far they have come recently.

“There is no egos here. We are a real team.”

“Chris Hughton sets the tone, because he’s a real gentleman, and gives his time to everyone. He has brought us together, and given us a great camaraderie. This club is set up for success with the brilliant stadium and training ground.”

Mat Ryan in action for Brighton. Source: AFP

Ryan played every minute of every game this season; keeping ten clean sheets, and contributing to the best defence in the lower half of the table, as Brighton finished a respectable fifteenth.

The promoted club offered him an escape route after a difficult time with Valencia in La Liga where he only played 23 games in two seasons.

“All players have a difficult period, and that was mine,” he reflects. “It wasn’t all bad, I still got play against some big teams and players, but it wasn’t a great time, and I tried to learn from that.”

“Some might have wanted to throw in the towel, and go home, but it just made me more determined and resilient.”

This more hardened Ryan will return to the World Cup with Australia next month full of optimism for what they can achieve in Russia.

“The aim is to win every game; that’s why we play,” he says. “This season with Brighton I have beaten Arsenal and Manchester United, so that shows what is possible when you believe in yourself.”

“As Australians, we have been drilled not to fear anyone, and just to believe in ourselves, so who knows where that can take us?”

Mat Ryan makes a save for the Socceroos v Syria last year. Source: Getty Images

Australia have been drawn in Group C alongside France, Peru and Denmark; and will start against the French in Kazan on June 16.

“These are going to be three of the most difficult games of our lives,” he says.

“I am under no illusion there. We are going to have to give it all in order to progress and get to the knockout stage.”

Ryan has won the majority of his 42 caps for Australia under Ange Postecoglou, and so was surprised and disappointed to see him suddenly resign at the end of last year, and is still learning to work with his successor Bert van Marwijk.

“We have to adapt to playing under the new coach. It is all new to us. There have had a lot of changes, so hopefully we will be fresh.

“We will have an intense time before the tournament, learning from him and his staff. We will give it our best shot.”

Ryan had his first experience of playing under Van Marwijk earlier this year in March with the friendlies against Norway and Colombia.

“He tried to plant some seeds in us about how he wants to play,” he says.

“He wants to be a footballing side, playing out from the back. He has great experience as a coach, there are no doubters among us because he has achieved so much.”

This World Cup has guided every decision Ryan has made over the last four years, from where he has played his club football, to how he has trained, and now it is almost here his excitement is building.

“This tournament really means everything to me, ever since I was a kid at the stadium in Sydney on that amazing night in 2005 when we qualified for the World Cup by beating Uruguay,” he says.

“And then I remember watching the 2006 tournament in Germany in the middle of the night, and going crazy when Tim Cahill scored those late goals against Japan.

“I would open up my front door and scream out loud, and the funny thing was you could hear lots of other people screaming all over the neighbourhood.”

Now it is time to return to the World Cup, Ryan wants to find personal redemption, and be part of an Australian side that once again rouses the nation back home.