Huddersfield Town's Aaron Mooy celebrates winning the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Credit:PA It was a cruel way for Reading to miss out, as it always is for those who come so close and fail in this manner. But the converse is always true for the victors: the exhilaration Mooy and his colleagues felt after their narrow triumph is the sort of high that can rarely be matched. This match is often dubbed the most valuable game in the world and with good reason. It has been calculated that at current TV and broadcast rates promotion to the English Premier League is worth close to £200 million ($345 million) a season, even if a club manages to only stay there one year before being relegated.

Aaron Mooy celebrates after nailing his penalty in the shootout against Reading. Credit:Getty Images For Mooy, it has been a remarkable few years after he returned to Australia following a serious injury when playing for Scottish club St Mirren as a youngster. He was one of the inaugural signings by Tony Popovic for the Western Sydney Wanderers, and although he played in two consecutive A-League grand finals for the western Sydney club, he never really established himself as one of the domestic game's biggest stars. Huddersfield Town's Mark Hudson lifts the trophy after winning the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Credit:PA The transformation in Mooy's life came when he moved to Melbourne City in 2014. He was rising 24 and he knew his career was at the crossroads.

Everyone associated with the game recognised Mooy's innate ability – after all, he had been good enought to have been signed by then Premier League club Bolton Wanderers as a teenager and taken from Sydney to England to be part of their development system. It was at Melbourne City that Aaron Mooy hit his straps. Credit:Getty Images The question was whether he would be able to deliver on that talent or merely become a good A-League midfielder who might have been something more. Under coach John van 't Schip, his career took an uplift at the Manchester City-owned Melbourne club. In his first season in Melbourne he won the club's player-of-the-year award and was its top scorer, and when he re-signed for a second season he became the A-League's youngest-ever marquee player.

He did just as well in his second campaign, forcing his way into the national team set-up and becoming an essential cog in the midfield machine for Ange Postecoglou's Socceroos. It was little surprise, then, at the end of his second year in Melbourne that he moved on. Manchester City bought him to be part of their squad, and immediately loaned him out to Huddersfield. At the time it looked like a nothing move. The Terriers had not been in the English top flight since 1972 and, at best, their aims for the 2016-17 campaign were perceived as survival in the second tier of the English game.

But Mooy had a tremendous first season in England, and a series of inspirational performances – beginning with an early season win away at eventual champions Newcastle – set a standard that Huddersfield Town were, by and large, able to maintain for the rest of the long, gruelling season. Mooy was so good that he was named in the Championship Team Of The Year, and so influential at Huddersfield that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made it known that he was keeping a close eye on the progress of the Australian. Could Mooy now make it with his parent club, or will he spend his first season in the English top flight with Huddersfield – or somewhere else? There is little doubt that the Sydneysider can play at that level. Those who felt that while his skills were certainly good enough his perceived lack of pace might count against him have been proved wrong.

Manchester City will be expected to spend big in the northern summer transfer market to launch another title assault next season, so there is no certainty that Mooy will get the chance to establish himself at Etihad Stadium. But Huddersfield would surely love to keep him in the heart of their midfield for their first season back in the big time, and a bid to secure his services full-time would be no surprise. Manchester City reportedly rejected an offer of £8 million ($13.8 million) for the Australian in the January transfer window, and after a stellar season he is now likely to be worth even more should they cash in on their asset. For Mooy, the only way now is up, but he is a level-headed and pragmatic young man, and the 26-year-old will now have his full focus on helping the Socceroos defeat Saudi Arabia next week in Adelaide, in the next World Cup qualifier on June 8.

A win would be a massive step along the road to qualification for Russia. If Postecoglou's men can acheive that, then a home win in the final game against Thailand and a point away in Japan should see them make the World Cup for the fourth time in a row. With Mooy in such prolific mood, and a resurgent Tom Rogic, fresh from his terrific late winner for Celtic in the Scottish Cup final, the omens for Australia are good.