18/11/09: Steals another one, this time Oman
07/01/10: Draw with Kuwait as good as a win, World Cup
concerns remain
04/03/10: Ease past Indonesia to seal qualification
02/05/10: Asian Cup Draw
12/09/10: Osieck era starts well with a draw and win in Europe
11/10/10: A win over Paraguay in No Holds Barred match
17/11/10: Egypt loss a write-off
29/12/10: Squad announced
06/01/11: UAE warm-up proves pointless as referee blight continues
11/01/11: Match 1 India - Danger looms as Australia cruise past India
16/01/11: Match 2 Korea - Happy with result, not so much performance
19/01/11: Match 3 Bahrain - Job done as Australia progress
23/01/11: Match 4 Iraq - Through to the semis, the hard way
26/01/11: Match 5 Uzbekistan - A rout to the finals
30/01/11: Match 6 Japan - Wonderful tournament ends in despair
06/02/11: Asian Cup wrap; Carney comments on defensive error
That is the coach, Pim Verbeek, not the A-League players that succumbed to Kuwait 1-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier in Canberra on Thursday night. For all the deriding of the A-League and, after the 0-0 draw away to Indonesia last month, labelling particular players as "absolutely hopeless", it's the coach that is beginning to show he is way out of his depth. Is it any wonder the team performs so poorly when the coach continually rubbishes them and the league in which they play?
He's no coach. He's selector and a planner. Select the team he likes, and plans the qualifying path to the World Cup with minimal risk taken.
The Asian Cup, the "easier" qualifying process, the local players should suffice. If not, we'll just call in the overseas players for the remaining games. Thanks to the continued good fortune raining on the team since Verbeek took over, Australia is still well placed in the group despite being in last position on 1 point. Kuwait already lost their opening match to Oman, and Australia's next two games are a double against Oman in November when players will be thinking World Cup and eager to play, and during an international window. Winning both those will see Australia at least second in the group, if not top.
After the game, Verbeek could not understand how the team played so badly. Quite simple: poorly coached. When they're continually told that the coach has them in a mindset clearly below that of the overseas players, and only used out of reluctant necessity, it's hardly an environment to attain maximum performance, nor incentive to stick it out when the situation becomes difficult. Why would you? There's no hope of playing in the tournament proper.
The players are clearly good enough. Only a few years ago an A-League team swept aside Kuwait 2-0 in a similar Asian Cup qualifier. Difference then was that coach of the time, Graham Arnold (remember him?), had pride in the players and faith that they could perform. Could anyone honestly say Verbeek would have such faith in current A-League players? Hence the poor performance. He's not just deficient in a managerial sense, he's deficient also in strategic capacity. The team - the one that he admitted after the game can play much better - had few ideas. That is the coach's fault. Not that these lacklustre performances are any great revelation. It's been clearly evident already with the full selection. The team has either been horrible or reliant on low-risk football or faced poor opposition.
Calling on the overseas players in November is not a sign that the A-League players are incapable, it's a sign that the coach is incapable. Their results will only prove that the coach is not needed. For the A-League players, the coach is needed. At the World Cup, when the overseas players face really top-line opposition, they will require a coach. Right now, we don't know if Verbeek can coach. Telling the players that they are absolutely hopeless will not be an acceptable escape clause.
05/03 Australia 0 - Kuwait 0
29/01 Indonesia 0 - Australia 0
Competition: Asian Cup qualifer
Opposition: Oman
Venue: Muscat
Situation: A man down, a goal down, dominated all over the park and should have been
3 or 4 more down.
Response: Win the game with a goal in the final 10 minutes and make qualification for the
Asian Cup almost certain.
It's quite remarkable how this team constantly eeks our such great results. Yes, again, the team played poorly. Yes, again, it did not matter. Clearly this team plays to a higher will. A will to remain focused, keep pressure and capitalise on chances. Australia restored scores to level just on half time. Between the goals, Mark Schwarzer earned his man of the match award. It really should not have been this dramatic.
The red card was bordering on ridiculous. Rhys Williams made a clumsey challenge, clattering into Emad Al Hosni. Was it a professional foul? If not, it's not even a yellow card. Was it a professional foul to deny a goal scoring chance? This is an intriguing question, just in principle.
The rule was brought in to stop the one-on-one situations outside the box of a defender, or even an approaching goalie, dragging down an attacker. In the box, such a foul is a penalty, therefore the goal scoring chance is hardly denied. In fact, it's probably enhanced in that you get your best kicker to take the shot on goal. Fifa really need to clarify the rule.
The team were stunned when a red was produced. It wasn't a professional foul to me. Bahrain scored from the kick, albeit from the rebound of Schwarzer's glove as he nearly made the save.
This match followed the same teams facing in Melbourne a month prior. It was a classic match, and total endorsement of every reason Australia is in Asia. Oman dominated early parts of play and should have scored. Australia pressured through much of the second half, waiting until the 75th minute for that man, Tim Cahill, sliding in at the far post, to score off Chipperfield's cross.
After looking shaky, Australia now just needs to win either against Kuwait (away) or Indonesia (home) to guarantee qualification.
14/10 Australia 1 - Oman 0
14/11 Oman 1 - Australia 2
Australia drew 2-2 in Kuwait overnight, meaning a draw at home against Indonesia in Brisbane in March is all that's required to qualify for the Asian Cup. Pim Verbeek's mostly A-League team looked like they were finally about to endorse Verbeek as a top coach, racing to a 2-0 lead in 5 minutes. It all went downhill from then, with Kuwait equalising just as quickly just prior to half-time after bringing on a second striker.
As usual, Australia scores goals from scrappy situations, preying on the second ball from rebounds or defensive weakness, while concedes at the other end after being cut apart. This needs to be reversed. Even allowing for Colosimo's "error", Kuwait had a two-on-one just prior and should have scored, and had several other chances in the second half to win. At the World Cup, Australia cannot rely on these "second ball" situations or poor defending for scoring. The defence won't have profligate finishing to save it, either.
While the quick retort is that few of these players will be in South Africa for the World Cup, the greater concern is that the performance again highlights Verbeek's inability to adjust quickly to situations, much less be proactive and prepared for inevitable situations, such as Kuwait suddenly imposed onto the team after trailing 2-0. There's a strategic and tactical impotence that suggests the coaching success is by rigid faith in the system and the probability that the team will eventually score and succeed. Perfect for a protracted qualifying campaign or league using the same players. Useless for major sudden-death games that will be the World Cup, and certainly useless for situations like this Asian Cup qualifier in which a bunch of players that previously never played as a group are thrown together and expected to perform seamlessly.
06/01 Kuwait 2 Hamad Al Enezi (40) Yousuf Nasser (44) - Australia 2 Luke Wilkshire (3) Dean Heffernan (5)
Australia's predominantly A-League-based line-up has recorded a 2-2 AFC Asian Cup qualifying draw with Kuwait in Kuwait City.
The makeshift Socceroos looked to have virtually sealed their place at next year's finals in Qatar when they stunned the home side to go 2-0 up in their Group B clash after just five minutes.
Goals in quick succession to Luke Wilkshire and Dean Heffernan gave Australia the perfect start after dire defending from the Kuwaitis at Kuwait SC Stadium.
Australia controlled the first 30 minutes until Kuwait levelled things up with their own burst of two goals in four minutes approaching half-time.
Substitute Hamed Al Enezi swooped to hammer home past goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic from a tight angle in the 40th minute, after an error from Australia central defender Simon Colosimo.
Then striker Yousef Nasser sent the home crowd into raptures with a wonderful finish a minute before half-time after Kuwait striker Bader Al Mutwa pierced Australia's defence with a perfect through ball.
Kuwait stepped on the pedal early in the second half and had two good chances to win the match through Al Enezi.
First the substitute shot just wide on 57 minutes, before Galekovic was forced to make a sharp save to deny him again with nine minutes left.
Australia bravely held firm with their goal under late siege to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for next year's Asian Cup finals in Qatar.
Coach Pim Verbeek was content with the result and his hybrid A-League/European-based team's overall performance.
"I think we did very well for the first 35 minutes, but the last 10 minutes of the first half we give two goals away," Verbeek told Fox Sports.
"The last minutes of the first half we lost control of the midfield, but the second half we were much better organised.
"A little bit more sharpness in one-on-one situations and we could have won the game."
Australia's line-up v Kuwait: Eugene Galekovic, Matthew Kemp, Craig Moore (c), Simon Colosimo, Dean Heffernan, Dario Vidosic, Luke Wilkshere, Mile Jedinak, Mile Sterjovski (Nikita Rukavytya 60'), Nicky Carle (Matt Thompson 89'), Archie Thompson (Bruce Djite 90+2').
Oman defeated Indonesia 2-1 in the day's other Group B encounter at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, to set up an intriguing final match day.
Fouzi Basheer's 31st-minute header from Ahmed Hadid's cross had put the visitors on their way before Indonesia's Boas Salossa latched onto a long ball forward and beating Oman goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi in first half injury time.
Seven minutes after the break Ismail Sulaiman struck to leave Oman knowing a win against Kuwait at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex at the start of March would seal a place at the finals.
Kuwait top the group on goal difference from Australia, with both sides on eight points. Oman have seven points with Indonesia, out of contention for a place in the finals, on three points.
Australia host Indonesia on March 3 at Suncorp Stadium with a point enough to secure an Asian Cup finals spot.
In Brisbane last night, Australia scored a 1-0 victory, courtesy of a goal by Mark Milligan. The goal came from the usual scrappy situation that is in vogue for Australian teams under the Verbeek regime, this time from a corner. Milligan shouldered the ball onto the crossbar before pivoting on a tight angle to slam the ball towards goal and ultimately to deflect in off the goal-keeper. Unconvincing, yes. Deserved, yes. Australia did dominate in a match that only required them to draw, even if most of the 22 shots on goal were long-range or speculative.
In the group's other game, Kuwait qualified in second place after avoiding securing the required draw (0-0) at Oman.
Team P W D L GD Pts AUSTRALIA 6 3 2 1 2 11 KUWAIT 6 2 3 1 1 9 OMAN 6 2 2 2 0 8 INDONESIA 6 0 3 3 -3 3
Australia defeated Indonesia 1-0 in its final AFC Asian Cup qualifier in Brisbane to seal its place at Qatar 2011.
Mark Milligan's first international goal was all Australia had to show for 90 minutes of domination against Indonesia but it still brought the desired reward in front of a 20,422 crowd at Suncorp Stadium.
Requiring just a draw to ensure a second Asian Cup campaign, a determined Milligan sealed the Socceroos' place in the 42nd minute with a scrambling goal from a Luke Wilkshire free kick.
The win moved Australia to the top of Group B on 11 points while Indonesia finished its campaign with three draws.
One of just three foreign-based players in the mostly A-League squad, 2006 World Cup member Milligan had some luck on his side but Australia deserved to win by more as they 22 shots at goal to the visitors' three.
The Japan-based former Sydney FC defender shouldered Wilkshire's cross on to the cross bar before swivelling on a tight angle to hammer the ball into goalkeeper Markus Harison Rihihina, with it deflecting into the net.
"I don't mind how it comes, it's my first goal for the national team," Milligan told ABC Radio.
"I was lucky it fell nicely for me off the cross bar, it doesn't happen often.
"We obviously would have liked a second.
"We were solid in defence as a team and as a unit so we're happy to be in the Asian Cup and that's all that matters."
The lacklustre Indonesians gave their stretcher bearers almost as much work as captain and lone striker Bambang Pamungkas, who pre-match promised a far more difficult assignment for the home side.
Indonesia's last victory against the Socceroos came in the 1981 World Cup qualifiers and the visitors never looked like ending their 30-year drought.
Even when they went a goal down the Merah Putih were hesitant and failed to force the pace, leaving Pamungkas and fellow attacking spark Budi Sudarsono with little action.
The Socceroos enjoyed close to 80 per cent of the possession and had countless chances to kill off the visitors early in the second half.
In one five-minute period, striker Josh Kennedy missed two headers in the box and then spoilt a golden chance for Wilkshire by intercepting a brilliant Tommy Oar cross meant for the Dynamo Moscow utility.
Captain Jason Culina also unleashed a series of long-range shots, further testing an up-to-the-task Markus with each.
Twin debutants Oar and Sydney FC defender Shannon Cole, highly impressive in his 72 minutes on the wet pitch, were among Verbeek's best.
Verbeek later tried to water down the hype over Oar despite an impressive performance by the 18-year-old winger.
"I don't want to put too much pressure on the boy. I think he played a fantastic game and I think it's fantastic for Australian football that you have a player this young doing this," Verbeek told Foxsports after the game.
"He made some unbelievable big steps this year - coming out of nothing, playing for (Queensland) Roar, playing for the national team and playing a good game like this.
"It's fantastic for him, fantastic for Australian football but please keep the pressure away from him. Let him develop as a normal 18-year-old boy. I think that is important."
Older hands Culina, Wilkshire and Simon Colosimo were also stand-outs while Kennedy had an off night.
Right-side attacker Mile Sterjovski paid the price for a lacklustre first half, replaced at halftime for Wilkshire to move up field and substitute Matt McKay to add extra midfield spark.
The Suncorp Stadium surface was in amazing shape despite five days of persistent rain in Brisbane and the first half was played in wet and muggy conditions.
Australia: Eugene Galekovic, Shannon Cole (Matt Thompson 72'), Mark Milligan, Simon Colosimo, Scott Jamieson, Jacob Burns (David Williams 89'), Luke Wilkshire, Mile Sterjovski (Matt McKay 45'), Jason Culina (c), Tommy Oar, Josh Kennedy.
Australia were given an interesting draw for January 2011's Asian Cup. It's nice to restore rivalry with Korea, Bahrain may have some revenge factor from World Cup qualifying, and minnow India will interesting simply for the transported cricket rivalry, especially for India. Ideally, Iran would have been nice to draw. That was impossible as they were in the drawing pot of the apparent "5 - 8 ranked countries" with Australia, Japan and Uzbekistan. Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Korea were in the top seeded pot. Qatar were there as hosts, Iraq there as defending champions.
Group A: Qatar, Kuwait, China and Uzbekistan
Group B: Saudi Arabia, Japan, Jordan and Syria
Group C: Korea Republic, India, Australia and Bahrain
Group D: Iraq, North Korea, UAE and Iran
The displays in two warm-up matches leading into the Asian Cup proved and enlightening and encouraging sign for the future of the national team now under the reigns of new coach Holger Osieck. In contrast to Pim Verbeeks conservative and uninspiring approach, Osieck infused a direct and exciting approach into the team.
Playing ostensibly 4-4-2, the much maligned Scott MacDonald under Verbeek was suddenly a dangerous and menacing player, and should have finally opened his goal scoring account. The team's "invisible man", especially over the past two World Cups, Jason Culina, finally was noticed doing something other than a couple of cute turns on the ball followed by a pass sideways or backwards. Now it was an instant look ahead for a player in space, and he would more often join the attack as well. There was greater width to the game and, most importantly, greater urgency. The players themselves revelled in their liberation.
The 0-0 against Switzerland is deceptive in that it could have been 3-3. Mark Schwarzer was summoned to make two of best saves he's ever made in his career to keep Australia in touch. Other than that, the finishing of both teams was poor. Equally, both teams' defences were often opened. That could be attributed to some inexperience players used by both teams. Only early in the second half were Australia under duress. They managed to re-shape and run out the game competitively.
Poland was different, with the Poles more in control. They were unlucky to concede early via Brett Holman's good work for the first goal, conceded a clumsy penalty for the second, and suffered in the late stages to poor finishing when Australia was playing with 10 men. In between Australia's goals, Poland equalised with an excellent move down the left that saw Australia's defence left standing.
Despite the encouraging results, some concerns remain. Both games saw the home team miss a penalty that could easily have seen the return be a loss and a draw. The ill-discipline was still evident with the red card to Emerton. The yellow came from excessive holding, then the second immediately for dissent as Emerton swore at the referee. Osieck said in the post-match interview that Emerton used the "four-letter word" and that unfortunately the Croatian referee knew English. More unfortunate is the ugly behaviour still seeping from this team. They urgently need their egos curbed. Holger did not confirm his intended action for Emerton's behaviour. By his body language, he did not seem that impressed.
Among the red card was also a few bad tackles that luckily escaped deserved action that would be expected in a "competitive game", as the commentators phrased. This concept seems totally at odds with the nature of a "friendly international" as these games are designated, that any hostility shown in a "friendly" game surely deserves greater attention for breaking accepted code of conduct for the match. The "friendly" nature is to be imparted by the players on each other, not by the referee on their indiscretions.
In contrast for the lack of yellow cards on normal outfield tackles, a disturbing trend in the game is the frequent yellows for penalties - any penalty. All three culprits in these two matches received cards when, if the incidents had occurred outside the box, no card would have been issued. Lucas Neill's and Poland's Michal Zewlakow's were merely clumsy challenges. It's a blatant inconsistency and seems to have evolved from the "goal scoring situation" interpretation. It's time to return to just applying the laws as originally intended. The award of a penalty kick is often severe enough punishment. Be strict on those, be easier on the cards.
The two strikers up front was good, with one exception: play two dedicated strikers, not one dedicated striker and Tim Cahill. Cahill virtually did nothing over both games, and is far better suited drifting late into the box. As the Socceroo Realm mentioned after the World Cup, one simple Australian culture in the game would always be to play two strikers up front. The main reason being is that it readily defines a mentality - the "have a go" Australian mentality. Holger's intention is sound, it's better executed with two genuine strikers.
03/09: Switzerland, St Gallen
Australia has begun life under new coach Holger Osieck with an entertaining 0-0 friendly draw against Switzerland in St Gallen.
Australian captain Lucas Neill said before the match the players had been trying too hard in training to impress their new boss and it appeared a little bit that way at the AFG Arena.
Switzerland showed during the FIFA World Cup in June that it is extremely hard to break down with only one goal conceded and Australia was unable to find the back of the net.
Australia was, in fact, a bit lucky to get away with a draw with Switzerland skipper Alexander Frei missing a penalty in the 60th minute.
Osieck played two men up front in his first game on board with the recalled Scott McDonald joining Tim Cahill in the forward line.
With one eye on Wednesday morning's (AET) Euro 2012 qualifier against England in Basel, the home side rested about half of its regular starting lineup.
Both sides had their chances early on with skipper Lucas Neill blazing over from point blank range from a Cahill header in the 10th minute.
A minute later the Swiss should have scored with Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer saving the day by slapping away Albert Bunkaju's shot from close range.
The Swiss targeted Australia's left side of defence with David Carney being kept busy as the home side kept on getting in behind the Socceroos' defensive line.
Brett Emerton, clearly busting for a run after spending most of the past few weeks on the bench for Blackburn, provided some quality and was a handful down the right flank.
McDonald, yet to score for the Socceroos in 17 appearances for the national team, will never have a better chance to open his account than the open goal he somehow missed in the 41st minute.
Another great chance went begging for the Middlesbrough man just before the halftime break as his wait for an international strike continued.
Schwarzer was called into action only moments after the break and just got his fingertips to push Xavier Margairaz's header to safety.
The Swiss should have gained the lead in the 60th minute after Neill pushed David Degan in the penalty area.
With Schwarzer going the wrong way, Frei's shot clipped the bar and went over, the home crowd of more than 14,000 letting him know all about it.
Neill was shown a yellow card.
Substitute Dario Vidosic almost grabbed a winner in the 83rd minute but his header was knocked away by Swiss goalkeeper Marco Wolfi.
07/09: Poland, Krakow
Brett Holman reinforced his status as one of the Socceroos' big guns with a decisive half hour display in Australia's 2-1 friendly win over Poland in Krakow.
Australia played the last 19 minutes with only ten men following Brett Emerton's send-off for a second bookable offence to register its first victory under new coach Holger Osieck.
Australia not only had Holman to thank for the win, with goalkeeper Adam Federici putting in an imposing performance at the back at the Wisla Krakow Stadium.
He saved Robert Lewandowksi's penalty kick in the first half and an errant Polish attack wasted countless opportunities.
Holman was only required for 29 minutes, scoring the opener in the 14th minute for his third goal in his past five internationals.
Australia's top scorer at the World Cup effectively set up the second with Richard Garcia being brought down from his defence-splitting pass and Luke Wilkshire slotting home the 26th minute penalty.
Osieck should walk away happy with Australia's first two matches under his charge, a draw at world No.17 Switzerland and triumph at 56th-ranked Poland.
Australia has two more friendlies to decide the make-up of its squad for January's Asian Cup in Qatar, against Paraguay in Sydney next month before an expected fixture in Egypt in November.
Australia made four changes from the starting side that had a 0-0 draw with Switzerland in St Gallen while Poland named close to a full-strength line-up.
Federici replaced Mark Schwarzer in goals while Mile Jedinak, Garcia and Jon McKain came in for Jason Culina, Emerton and Matthew Spiranovic respectively.
It had been expected that Nathan Burns would be handed a start. Instead Scott McDonald and Tim Cahill were handed more time to work on their combination in the forward line under the new regime.
After Australia butchered so many chances in the match in St Gallen, Holman showed how to take an opportunity in the 14th minute.
He struck the ball firmly across his body and past Polish 'keeper Przemyslaw Tyton to open the scoring.
Some loose defending let the home side back in the match in the 18th minute with Lewandowksi ghosting in front of the Australian defence and flicking a ball beyond Federici.
Holman was back in the thick of proceedings soon enough, his ball slicing open the Polish defence with Garcia sent sprawling by captain Michal Zewlakow and referee Ivan Bebek pointed to the spot.
Luke Wilkshire stepped up to take the penalty and showed a cool head by sending Tyton the wrong way to restore Australia's lead.
Osieck had clearly seen enough of Holman's good work and subbed him off - after he picked up an injury - in the 29th minute for Emerton.
Four minutes later, Poland should have equalled the scores with Jon McKain ruled to have brought down Jakub Blaszczykowski in his last-ditch challenge.
This time Federici proved up to the task, the Reading goalkeeper guessing correctly by moving to his left to block a nervous penalty shot from Borussia Dortmund's Lewandowski in the 33rd minute.
Emerton was sent off in the 71st minute for a challenge and then dissent, and the Polish side lifted with a series of raids on the Australian goal.
Osieck's men held on for the confidence-boosting win.
McDonald was subbed in the 80th minute for Burns, the Middlesbrough striker unable to break his goal drought at international level from 18 matches.
In the "No Holds Barred" international match on Saturday night at the Sydney Football Stadium, Australia defeated Paraguay thanks to a punishing strike from David Carney early in the second half. It transformed the game, with a very open display that could have seen more goals.
The first half was a different story, a lifeless display by both teams with the only real chances courtesy of succession of shots and corners by Australia towards the end of the half. Paraguay played very defensively, relying on forward pressure to earn chances. Australia struggled to make much with its possession, had little urgency as hoped, often passing sideways or backwards. There seems some residual effect from the Verbeek era.
Coach Osieck Holger played two up front, again with Tim Cahill as the second striker, this time partnering Joshua Kennedy. It failed, with Cahill rarely seen, which only compounded the situation of Kennedy's terrible form hurting - especially his first touches and ball movement on the ground.
Holger stated that he'll persist with Cahill up front as he is "wasted" in midfield. For a player that scores at almost 1 goal per 2 games in midfield, it's a struggle to understand Holger's criteria of "wasted". It's proved quite easily his best possession, with the only benefit of playing striker in the 3 games so far is that Scott McDonald played well against Switzerland. Cahill was still mostly invisible.
A wiser option would be Kewell up front, with Cahill from deep. That allows the opportunity for Brett Holman, who was injured for this game, to sit left. Most likely, given Kennedy's forum, the next trial will be a Cahill/Kewell partnership.
Quite why FIFA choose to brand these matches as "friendly" international is mystifying, when the truth is that rules just do not get enforced. This match again saw some harsh tackles not penalised, and no action at all on the two occasions that a Paraguayan player committed a choking offence with his hand around the neck of an opposition player. Let's not forget Cahill's brutal tackle in the "friendly" against New Zealand prior to the World Cup. There are countless examples like this in many of these so-called "friendly" games.
The whole point of a friendly is that the players should be friendly themselves, not that the referee be friendly to the abuses of the game. If anything, such rules should be enforced more harshly given the supposed amicable environment to be presented. Since players are increasingly exploiting the intolerance of the referees to act, be honest with the label of these games, and call them No Holds Barred as they actually are. Rules don't count.
Australia has celebrated its FIFA World Cup homecoming in style by stunning highly-rated Paraguay 1-0 in a friendly international at the Sydney Football Stadium.
In an enterprising and attacking performance that augurs well for January's AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, the Socceroos dominated the world's 17th ranked team.
Fullback David Carney's blistering left-foot drive was all that separated the teams in a game where the 1-0 scoreline was no reflection of Australia's dominance.
Playing on home soil for the first time since the World Cup, the Socceroos created the lion's share of chances against an outfit good enough to reach the quarter-finals in South Africa before being knocked out by eventual champion Spain.
Australian coach Holger Osieck, still unbeaten after two wins and a draw in his first three matches, was true to his promise of attacking football.
His willingness to play two strikers - Tim Cahill was thrown forward to partner Josh Kennedy - and to encourage his midfielders to get forward paid handsome dividends.
Australia wreaked havoc on the South Americans, with scoring chances falling not only to the front men, chances fell to midfielders Mile Jedinak, Richard Garcia and Jason Culina as well.
Most of the danger came from set pieces engineered by right back Luke Wilkshire.
Australia's attacking ambitions were deservedly rewarded in the 53rd minute when a cross rolled free off a falling Kennedy's back and Carney raced in to slam home from eight metres.
The Australians could also be pleased with the performance of its makeshift centre-back pairing of Jon McKain and Jade North.
The match became heated at times in the second half, with fiery Scott McDonald involved in one altercation that had a Paraguayan defender grab him around the throat.
Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, captaining the home team in the absence of the injured Lucas Neill, had only one save to make from an early effort from Paraguay star Nelson Valdez.
Schwarzer said the Socceroos had performed well against a very good side.
"We pushed forward, played attractive football and got a result, too," he said.
Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Luke Wilkshire, Jon McKain, Jade North, David Carney, Richard Garcia (Alex Brosque 91), Mile Jedinak, Jason Culina, Harry Kewell (Dario Vidosic 88), Tim Cahill (Matt McKay 76), Josh Kennedy (Scott McDonald 61).
Paraguay: Diego Barreto, Carlos Bonet, Paulo Da Silva, Dario Veron, Claudio Rodriguez (Cesar Benitez 81), Hernan Perez, Derelis Orue, Cristian Riveros, Victor Caceres, Newstor Camacho, Nelson Valdez Federico Santander 76).
A midweek trial game, key players missing, little preparation time, players with heavy workloads with their clubs, focus is elsewhere. No surprises with the lacklustre response in Australia's 3-0 loss to Egypt in Cairo. The mistake was playing the match at all. These sort of matches serve nothing, win or lose, other than maybe trialling a few players, like the much publicised Sasa Ognenovski. He was adequate before substituted for Jade North after an hour - most likely to provide some value for the long flight endured by A-League player. As for the match itself, write it off.
Sometimes a 3-0 loss has value, if your team has played well and created chances. In this game, the only real chance created fell to Tim Cahill. The rest of the match was marred by constant turnovers and little motivation. Lack of pace was again showed as an issue, with Egypt's second goal a very simple give-and-go down the wing, with a loss cross easily converted, simply through out-sprinting David Carney and Lucas Neill.
As spoken often at this website, the entire concept of midweek games and international windows are a joke. FIFA need to make dedicated international seasons, one obviously at the end of the club season and a 4 week period in January. Then you never have conflicts with clubs, and players are fully focused.
A slick Egyptian side gave Australia's coach Holger Osieck plenty to think about before January's Asian Cup by thumping Australia 3-0 in Cairo.
Strikes from Ahmed Abdul-Zaher, Mohamed Nagy and Mohamed Zidan were enough to provide the first defeat of Osiek's short time in charge of the national team.
Australia was chasing a decent hit-out against a skilful, quick side before the Asian Cup, and the African champion, which is 11th in the FIFA rankings, provided that.
It was the last match before Osieck picks his squad for the tournament in Qatar and he won't be thrilled about his side's most recent showing.
Some of the defensive lapses are going to be of particular concern.
Fresh from leading Korean side Seongnam Ilhwa to victory in the Asian Champions League, Sasa Ognenovski made his international debut at the age of 31.
He became skipper Lucas Neill's latest central defensive partner, Scott McDonald earning a start up front while Mile Jedinak bumped out Carl Valeri for a midfield position.
On a clear night, the 76,000 capacity Cairo International Stadium was a third full at best but those that turned up made their presence heard.
The Australian defence was tested out early on with goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer called into action on more than one occasion.
The Socceroos' early attacks consisted largely of Luke Wilkshire launching long balls against the compressed Egyptian defence before Tim Cahill fluffed a great chance in the 25th minute.
Having been played in by Brett Holman, the in-form Everton star splayed his left foot shot wide.
Four minutes later, the home side pounced.
Australia's defence was opened up and Abdul-Zaher found the back of the net from ten metres out for the opener.
Brett Emerton was taken off for precautionary reasons in the 34th minute, replaced by Richard Garcia.
Australia looked shaky at the back with Schwarzer failing to meet a ball in the opening minute of the second half while Jedinak muscled up in putting Islam Awad into the advertising boards.
The tourists were then exposed by some sloppy work in the 59th minute.
Substitute Ahmed Elmehamady burst down the right flank and put in a fine cross that Egyptian star striker Mohamed Nagy drilled home just moments after coming on the pitch.
Holman got himself in a dangerous position a minute later, was quickly closed down and the chance went begging.
Cahill continued to find space in the box without putting is headers on target. Neill wrapped up a forgettable performance for the visitors conceding a penalty when he was adjudged to have pushed Nagy in the back (this was barely noticeable on the replays).
Mohamed Zidan rifled his shot to Schwarzer's right in the 89th minute to complete Australia's miserable evening.
The Pharaohs made a mockery of their poor start to their 2012 African Nations Cup qualifying, having failed to beat Sierra Leone at home and losing last week in Niger.
Australia's next match is against the United Arab Emirates on January 5 in the lead-up to the Asian Cup, where they meet India, South Korea and Bahrain in the group stages.
Goalkeepers: Nathan Coe (Sønderjysk Elitesport – 0), Brad Jones (Liverpool – 2), Mark Schwarzer (Fulham – 82)
Defenders: David Carney (Blackpool – 32), Jonathan McKain (Al Nassr – 14), Lucas Neill (Galatasaray – 63), Jade North (Wellington Phoenix – 31), Sasa Ognenovski (Seongnam Ilhwa – 1), Matthew Spiranovic (Urawa Reds – 5), Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow – 50)
Midfielders: Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers – 78), Jason Culina (Gold Coast United – 56), Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar – 38), Mile Jedinak (Genclerbirligi – 17), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray – 47), Neil Kilkenny (Leeds United – 2), Matthew McKay (Brisbane Roar – 6), Thomas Oar (Utrecht FC - 3), Carl Valeri (Sassualo – 29)
Forwards: Nathan Burns (AEK Athens – 4), Tim Cahill (Everton – 46), Robbie Kruse (Melbourne Victory – 0), Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough – 20)
It's interesting that the false designation of players continues, with Burns and Cahill as "forwards". Just because they will play forward, it doesn't mean they are true strikers. Only McDonald would be strictly a striker, with Kruse a developed one. With Archie Thompson and Daniel Allsopp in Melbourne Victory's team, Kruse would drop back into midfield. To offset the reduced striking options, players previously regarded as strikers under the Verbeek reign are in the squad as midfielders: Garcia and Kewell. The squad is conceivably 3 strikers: Kewell, Kruse, McDonald. As seen in the World Cup, when it comes to requiring actual strikers in case of suspensions, form loss or even to chase the game, options are quickly limited. Cahill might be a player you throw forward; he should never be played on the frontline. Not when he's one of the most dangerous midfielders going and the most potent attacking option in the Australian team in his drifting midfield position. So far he hasn't converted his prowess when played as a striker.
Of similar false designation is the defence. Carney and Wilkshire are not defenders - especially Carney, who has only been a constant liability in that left wingback roll. At least there are five actual defenders to cover any deficiency.
The main ommission is Joshua Kennedy, out injured. Dario Vidovic is missing so to prepare for his new club. If that's by Osieck's blessing, fine. Otherwise, no time should a player be picking their times to play for Australia.
Other than winning the Asian Cup - of which this squad is good enough to achieve - much interest will be directed to whether McDonald will finally break his goal duck. With India first up, he could do it in the style by putting five past them. Recent matches for India have seen losses of 9-1 to Kuwait, 6-3 to Yemen and 5-0 to the UAE. India are only in the Asian Cup because they won AFC Challenge Cup, a championship for the lowest level of the three categories of teams the AFC designates, in 2008.
A pointless match, in score, substance and value. That was the impact of the scoreless draw with the UAE last night. The emerging players given a run were literally just doing that, having a run. There was no system to anything, with the dour struggle proving nothing and showing nothing. The good news is that Australia has another warm-up match to go, that being India as their first group match in the Asian Cup.Coach Holger Osieck is obviously eyeing this game to give the first-choice team an early run against an Indian team that, with poor form, injuries and coaching concerns, is nothing short of a rabble. As a reader said on the TWG website today, "Australia should flog India. Anything less would be a massive let down.". In previewing the match, it can't be worded more perfectly or succinctly than that.
Of the inexperienced players, Matt Mackay and Nathan Burns did well. Burns is far more valuable to a starting position than Brett Holman. Holman is again showing the reasons he was once so reviled by his critics. The odd nice move and a fluker's World Cup goal does not compensate for the rampant poor control, poor passing and poor decision making. One quick break from midfield saw Holman avoid the obvious pass to a marauder down the wing in space, preferring to jink infield and pass to a central striker triple-teamed. The initial jink infield caused all the problems, runs had to be aborted, the UAE could man-up and suddenly Holman is out of options, so plays the haphazard ball before being dispossessed himself.
The result could have been better for Australia, at least on the scorecard, if not for the referees and, again, another match destroyed by their ineptitude. Lucas Neill scored a perfectly goal good - it would have been his first at international level - only for it to be cancelled by Ognenovski being "offside". Neill's goal came from a free-kick, with Ognenovski's crime being in the mix with his attempt to score. His run just happened to put himself "offside" as Neill headed his goal, with Ognenovski not making any subsequent play for the ball. If he were to actually impede the goalie in any way, it's called as obstruction. Not that he did.
Until FIFA legislate that "active offside" actually means taking possession of the ball while still offside (along with being offside when the ball is played, as is the current law), then these sorts of bizarre scenarios will continue. The interpretation varies so much among referees, and even within a match, with impact of the play seemingly the guiding issue. If the play proves harmless, the referees let it go. If it's a goal, they call it up. To compound Neill's disallowed goal, there were at least two offsides for one-on-one situations that actually weren't offside. Is there any wonder that the game is being ruined when FIFA persists with its arcane principles.
A below-strength Australia was served a taste of the challenge that lay ahead when held to a scoreless draw by a stubborn United Arab Emirates in its final AFC Asian Cup tune-up in Al Ain.
Australia's coach Holger Osieck opted to rest big guns Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton, Jason Culina and Mark Schwarzer for the friendly, taking a chance to test out the bulk of his squad.
It wasn't easy going for a host of fringe players, with Australia failing to break down its opponent despite a decent pitch and favourable conditions in UAE's garden city.
Australia could have come away with a win after captain Lucas Neill found the back of the net in the 57th minute only for the goal to be somewhat-harshly ruled out with centre-back partner Sasa Ognenovski adjudged offside in the build-up.
UAE also had its chances for victory, forcing some good late saves out of debutant Nathan Coe while Fares Juma hit the post late with a powerful long-range shot.
Osieck handed starts to the likes of Nathan Burns and Matt McKay while Coe and Robbie Kruse made their debuts when they were introduced after half-time.
Tommy Oar and Neil Kilkenny also got some game time and while none set the world on fire, Osieck was pleased with how they responded to the challenge.
"I took the opportunity to give some game time to players that were not necessarily starters or they haven't been starters in previous games and I think they really took the opportunity very well," Osieck said.
"I was happy with that and I gained a lot of impressions from that."
Neill was typically sound at the back, while Mile Jedinak and Carl Valeri did a good job of controlling possession in the first half. The front third was not so good, with Osieck admitting it still needed work.
The German kept faith in Scott McDonald, who led the line with a hard-working Brett Holman in behind. The Middlesbrough striker again had no joy in front of goal to remain scoreless after 21 games for his country.
Australia's best chance of the first half fell to McKay in the 22nd minute from a sweet lay-off from McDonald, only for the Brisbane Roar midfielder to fire his first-time shot over the bar.
The impressive McKay was also involved in the second half flashing a header just wide in the dying minutes. Other than that, the best Australia could muster was a handful of half-chances.
"It was a decent hitout," defender Luke Wilkshire said.
"The camp's just begun and we've got to work our way into the game against India.
Coe, who came on after half-time for Brad Jones as Osieck assessed his back-up keeping options, made several good reaction saves in a strong second-half performance as UAE mounted some late pressure.
Australia head to Doha on Thursday to finalise preparations for the tournament.
It was 4-0, not the anticipated 10-0 or similar. It doesn't matter. This is the danger of facing such weak teams first up. The matches rarely tell us something substantial, and can just set the team up for a great fall. With India almost certain to lose all their games, it becomes a 3-team group, placing extra premium on results from the other two matches. Lose to Korea, and Australia is in a scenario that they must beat Bahrain, or at least draw to them and rely on goal-difference, in the final game. So far, after a spate of lacklustre performances in practice matches, the team is not showing much to inspire great confidence. This result against India, with only 1 goal coming in the second half, hasn't changed the concern.
In the group's other game, Korea were way too good for Bahrain, despite the 2-1 scoreline. Bahrain scored late from a penalty. Korea will be the serious test for Australia. The only exception to that is if they take few risks, not needing to win since they beat Bahrain. Hopefully, to test Australia, they are up for the win.
The question: Will a few "Filiga" banners appear in the crowd for Australia's next matches? Thanks to the host broadcaster, we learn't that Tim Cahill's middle is Filiga.
So far the tournament has been brilliant. Dramatic and high-class matches. All teams wanting to win. The atmosphere has been great, thanks to the great presence of Arab nations in the tournament, whose fans have an easy visit to Qatar. The only downer, again, has been the refereeing. Some deplorable decisions, especially blatant inconsistency with penalties and red cards, not to forget the pet peeve of this website, offsides. Australia had 10 in their match with only 2 or 3 actually offside. At worse, most were level. Under FIFA's rules, attackers should be favoured, therefore close decisions that are called could almost be classed as technically wrong. Australia suffered a spate of 4 or 5 offsides within the first half and hour, and none were offside. Scott McDonald was called incorrectly for a late one. Only one call saw a goal denied - it would have been Tim Cahill's second, of which he eventually gained in the second half. That's not to say the others would not have resulted in goals, or at least great goal-scoring chances.
To make a total mockery of the offside situation, FIFA discuss nonsensical ideas like bigger goals, and crackdown on diving - all sorts of peripheral action - to open up the game, to create more chances and goals, when the biggest killer to attacking play is their own arcane officiating on the offside rule. The spirit of the rule was to stop lurking in the goal-mouth, it was never for a devious ploy to catch players a few centimetres past the last defender. Of course, nothing ever happens with such heinous decisions, because the culture in the game is to accept it. Even the commentators fall in line, as Andy Harper wrongfully stated the referee was correct with one of the calls in this match. The culture is highlighted most vividly when a goal is scored and a player is a fraction offside. The outrage is a thousand times louder than the opposite case of a goal denied and a player is onside.
Also hampering this match was the increased protected species culture of the goal-keeper. Unless you score, even the slightest of clash with the goal-keeper is a foul. There must have been 5 on India's goalie. Then, in normal play, a "cynical" foul like shirt-pulling is called quickly. The very same foul in the penalty box - and therefore a penalty would be awarded - nothing. India were unlucky not to gain a penalty when Sasa Ognenovski pulled back Sunil Chhetri, who broke free onto a long ball. Just minutes prior, the same offence outside the box, one not quite as severe, saw a yellow awarded. If FIFA officiated correctly, not only would the game open up, you'd see an end to all the diving and simulation because players won't need to resort to such tactics, and see an end to the cynical fouls and ruthless tackles because players won't get away with it.
Group C
13:15 GMT, January 10, 2011
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium
Referee: Ali Albadwawi
India 0
Australia 4 - Tim Cahill (11') Harry Kewell (25') Brett Holman (45') Tim Cahill (65')
No Yellow or Red Cards
Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton (Nathan Burns 61'), Sasa Ognenovski, Tim Cahill, Luke Wilkshire, Jason Culina, David Carney, Mile Jedinak (Matt McKay 61'), Harry Kewell (Scott McDonald 72'), Brett Holman
Tim Cahill was again the star as the Australia kicked off their Asian Cup campaign as predicted, with a comfortable 4-0 win over lowly India.
While it wasn't the cricket score some had expected against their 142nd-ranked opponents, Holger Osieck's side looked good in patches and were made to work hard at Al Sadd Stadium.
Cahill reaffirmed his status as Australia's biggest attacking weapon, scoring the first and final goals, with Harry Kewell and Brett Holman also getting on the score sheet.
India, returning to a major international tournament for the first time in 27 years, were far from disgraced, getting several sights on goal much to the excitement of a vocal supporting contingent among the crowd of 9783.
Their goalkeeper Subrata Paul kept the score from being larger than 3-0 at halftime, denying Cahill twice with brilliant saves, while the Everton midfielder also appeared to be denied what looked a legitimate goal prior to the break.
Having vowed to field his strongest possible side, Osieck did just that, opting to leave Scott McDonald on the bench despite the Middlesbrough striker still searching for his first international goal.
McDonald did see 20 minutes off the bench and remains goalless, now after 22 international appearances.
Cahill and Kewell started up front and it was they who kicked off proceedings.
Cahill made the initial breakthrough in the 11th minute, smashing home from close range after Brett Emerton picked him out with a low cross.
Kewell then chimed in after 25 minutes, putting his side 2-0 up with a brilliant second.
Mile Jedinak and Luke Wilkshire combined in the lead-up before the Galatasaray forward unleashed a powerful left-footed shot to beat Paul from 25 metres.
Holman then did his best Cahill impersonation at the stroke of halftime, scoring his fifth goal in the past 10 matches with a brave header from another fine Emerton cross.
With a chance goal difference could come into play in deciding the make-up of Group C, Australia would likely have been disappointed to have only added one more goal in the second half.
It came in the 65th minute, when Cahill made a trademark late run to head home a Wilkshire free kick.
Osieck handed Matt McKay and Nathan Burns some game time off the bench in the second half as the side lacked the fluency they showed for much of the first period.
India almost spoiled Australia's clean sheet with five minutes remaining when striker Sunil Chhetri broke on goal before Sasa Ognenovski, who kept his starting place at centre back, made amends for his mistake in defence.
Coach Holger Osieck was delighted to see his Australia side begin their Asian Cup campaign in style.
"It is very important to get a good start in a tournament, that you find your rhythm, get your performance together after the preparation you never know where you stand, how things will be transferred," Osieck said.
"From my point of view it was a good start. In the first half, technically we played very well and it's always difficult to break down an opponent's defence when they sit but we showed a lot of discipline on the technical side when attacking.
"We scored three goals which was encouraging and to start with a 4-0 win all in all is good and should give us confidence for the next games to come."
Osieck also dismissed concerns his centre-back pairing of Lucas Neill and Sasa Ognenovski could be exposed by a forward line with more pace than India could offer.
"You have to look at the positives first. Both are very experienced, very solid and they are strong in the air, both are good headers of the ball," he said.
"They don't get nervous or intimidated, there are a lot of positive aspects rather than the so-called lack of mobility but we will have to see when we play against Korea."
Despite the defeat, India coach Bob Houghton felt his men did not let themselves down.
"Nobody likes to lose 4-0, that's for sure, but all in all it was a good experience for us," the Englishman said. "I thought my team were very good today. You can be proud of that performance if you were in my position today.
"The boys worked hard, they kept going even when they were 4-0 down, kept their shape and their discipline, that's the first time we've played against a team of that quality.
"They watch these guys in the Premiership every weekend and today they're thinking, 'We're not that far away. Yes, they're better than us but we can compete with them'.
"I think they can walk off the field with their heads held high and now we need to prepare for the next two games against Bahrain and Korea Republic that are also difficult.
"We need to do the same in those games but set plays are difficult for us because physically we struggle. That was one of the issues."
It's all deja-vu again. As with the Verbeek era, Australia relying on opportunism to score goals and being lucky the opposition didn't score more. This could be a legacy issue from the Verbeek era, with players still prone to pivot 180 degrees on receiving the ball, and passing sideways, or backwards, seemingly so unsure of the right play to make. The one salvation is that the directness coach Osieck does appear to want, attempts to materialise at times, mostly through long balls. In time, and maybe with a revitalisation of new players, it will extend in a more broader capacity across the field.
Korea scored first, before Australia equalised in the second half. The pattern could have been different if not, again, for woeful refereeing that prevented Australia going 1-0 up. Tim Cahill was clearly pushed when going for a point-blank header, only for the referee to wave play-on. It was a blatant penalty, with the Korean defender making no attempt on the ball. Because it was a certain goal otherwise, he had no attempt than to crash into the back of Cahill at the precise point he was heading. We wonder why players dive? Only seconds earlier, an identical push occurred outfield, with far less force, and that was called as a free-kick. Why does the penalty box mean infringements should be so much worse to call the free kick?
Australia went behind from really clumsy defending. A long ball from the goalie, it bounced conveniently for Ji Dong-Won ahead of Lucas Neill and Sasa Ognenovski. Neill thought wise to retreat to the goal-line, rather than man-up Koo Ja-Cheol, who ran through to accept the pass and strike superbly on goal. The only explanation on behalf of Neill is that he might have presumed Ognenovski would stop Koo. Instead, he was easily turned. Australia equalised when Mile Jedinak headed from close range after a goal-mouth scramble from a corner.
While both teams created enough chances to win, the Koreans were simply far more impressive, especially their swift passing and ability to extricate themselves from tight situations. In contrast, Australia never helped themselves, passing to players heavily marked, and that was often after fiddling around with the ball, passing backwards first. In a tight situation with double and triple-teaming, surely there must be open spaces elsewhere.
In essence, results do count, so it's difficult to be too critical, especially against such a slick Korean team. Australia does seem to have a stronger bite to it, with the sheer individual talent of key individuals being used far more expertly for creating chances and preying on the opportunities. After Bahrain beat India 5-2 in the group's other game, Australia will qualify for the quarter finals as long as they don't lose their final match, to Bahrain. Then awaits either Iran and Iraq. There's a 5 goal turnaround in goal difference between Australia and Korea. If Australia wins and that goal difference is preserved, they will win the group. Ideally they don't win the group, to set-up a mouth-watering match against Iran.
A slight downer on the night were injuries to Jason Culina (knee), Luke Wilkshire (groin) and David Carney (shoulder). Culina is out for the tournament. It's only a slight downer because if Australia had to lose 3 players to injury, Culina, Carney and Wilkshire probably would be the ones to lose. Or maybe lose Holman instead of Wilkshire. Holman continues to mystify. The commentators raved about him; I saw nothing other than a couple of nice first touches among his usual mess. Either way, Australia have the players to step up. If they were ever relying on Culina and Carney to win the Asian Cup, they were gone.
Group C
13:15 GMT, January 14, 2011
Al-Gharafa Stadium
Referee: Abdulrehman Abdou
Australia 1 - Mile Jedinak (62')
Korea Republic 1 - Ja-Cheol Koo (24')
Yellow Cards
Australia: Brett Emerton (29), Sasa Ognenovski (42), Tim Cahill (90)
Korea: Du-Ri Cha (22), Ki Sung-Yueng (35)
No Red Cards
Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton, Sasa Ognenovski, Tim Cahill, Luke Wilkshire (Jade North 68'), Jason Culina (Carl Valeri 46'), David Carney, Mile Jedinak, Harry Kewell, Brett Holman (Matt McKay 89')
Mile Jedinak's second-half header salvaged a draw for Australia against South Korea in an entertaining Asian Cup Group C game at Al Gharafa Stadium.
Koo Ja-cheol's third goal of the tournament in the 24th minute had given the Koreans the lead but Jedinak pounced from six-yards out to ensure honours ended even to leave the sides joint top of their group on four points.
Harry Kewell had the game's first opportunity after seven minutes when the ball broke to the midfielder eight yards out but he scooped it over the bar.
South Korea went in front after 24 minutes when Ji Dong-won latched onto a long ball over the top and, after holding up play in the box, fed Koo who found the bottom corner with a clinical finish.
Ji then brought a smart reflex stop out of goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer after Lee Young-pyo had played in the midfielder before an unwitting David Carney almost diverted the same player's glancing header into his own net.
Kewell wasted another chance when he pulled a shot from the edge of the area wide of the far post as South Korea went in at the break one goal to the good.
They continued to press in the second period and Lee Jung-soo saw a glancing header fly narrowly over the bar.
Schwarzer did well to turn aside Park Ji-sung's powerful angled drive at his near post before Australia equalised in the 62nd minute.
The Korean defence failed to clear Luke Wilkshire's corner and, after Lucas Neil lobbed the ball back into the danger area from the left of the box, Jedinak outjumped Jung Sung-ryong to nod home.
Schwarzer then preserved Australia's point with four minutes to go, pulling off a fine one-handed save low down to his right to deny Ki Seung-yung after substitute Yeom Ki-hyun had nodded Lee Chung-yong's cross into the midfielder's path.
Cho feels South Korea deserved victory
South Korea boss Cho Kwang-rae felt his side's display merited all three points.
"We could have won the game if you see the general performance of our team. We could've won the game," he said. "It could've been better when it came to the result tonight. For the fans, it was a great game to watch and I am quite appreciative of the players' performance today.
"I think that we controlled the game and, in that aspect, we've improved quite a lot.
"With the fact that we can control the game with any other team in the tournament I am quite pleased about that, and if we can continue to develop that aspect of our game, it will be much better for us."
Australia boss Holger Osieck was delighted with the way his side battled back from a goal down to leave both sides level on four points at the top of the group with one round of games remaining.
"I think we have seen a high standard match. Both teams have great potential and we've seen that today," he said.
"It was end to end. Both teams tried to play football. It was not just entertaining but from the technical point of view it was very good.
"I'm very happy with our performance. Our plan to close them down in midfield was mostly achieved. We knew about their strength and you could see that on a couple of occasions but what was most encouraging for me was that we created a lot of chances, in particular in the first-half that we could have converted, but we never gave up and got the goal. We came back into the game.
"We didn't just fight - we tried to play."
"Job done" was the universal sentiment after Australia eased to the top as Group C winners thanks to the 1-0 win over Bahrain and Korea's 4-1 win over India. One more Korean goal against India would have seen Australia finish second on goals scored and set up an enticing match with Iran. As it stands, Australia progress to fight Group D runners-up, either Iraq, DPR Korea or UAE. Iraq are the likely foes, only needing a draw, or for the other match to end in a draw, to claim second.
In wet conditions, Australia were generally improved over the game against Korea. That could be Bahrain a weaker opponent compared to Korea or Bahrain allowing a more open game by virtue of needing to win. The only time Australia looked under pressure was the first half of the second half, when Bahrain took control over midfield and pinned the Australians back. Bahrain, lacking the cutting edge required, could not capitalise. The final summary could have seen either side claim a few goals, with the only strike separating them being Mile Jedinak's spectacular effort from 20m out, late in the first half.
If there's one major criticism from this game against Bahrain is that coach Holger Osieck did not use his substitutes early enough. The best way to ease pressure on your defence is to bring on fresh attackers and force your opponents to defend as well. The team was crying out for Scott McDonald or Robbie Kruse to pester Bahrain's defence, with Tim Cahill dropping back to his customary deeper role to regain some bite from midfield. McDonald only arrived on 75 minutes and Kruse, when the game was begging to be killed off, didn't arrive until the 90th minute. Cahill remained a wasted and almost isolated talent up front.
Now the real stuff begins. Iraq will be dangerous. From there, Uzbekistan most likely over Jordan in the semis, then out of Japan, Korea or Iran in the final. Qatar, the other quarter-finalist, should be squeezed out by then. Jade North, Carl Valeri and Matt McKay, the replacement players for the injured Jason Culina, David Carney and Luke Wilkshire, performed reasonably well. Wilkshire is the most likely to return in his place instead of North. The other two, not a great deal is lost.
Group C
13:15 GMT, January 18, 2011
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium
Referee: Yuici Nishimura
Australia 1 (Jedinak 37')
Bahrain 0
Yellow Cards
Australia: Brett Emerton (41), Brett Holman (86)
Bahrain: Jaycee John (29), Abdulla Baba Fatadi (65), Abdulwahab Al Safi (70), Ebrahim Ali
Meshkhas (81)
No Red Cards
Team: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton, Sasa Ognenovski, Jade North (Neil Kilkenny 79'), Tim Cahill (Robbie Kruse 90'), Matt McKay, Carl Valeri, Mile Jedinak, Harry Kewell (Scott McDonald 77'), Brett Holman
Team GP W D L GF GA +/- Pts AUSTRALIA 3 2 1 0 6 1 5 7 KOREA REP 3 2 1 0 7 3 4 7 BAHRAIN 3 1 0 2 6 5 1 3 INDIA 3 0 0 3 3 13 -10 0
Mile Jedinak's first-half goal against Bahrain at Al Sadd Stadium was enough to send Australia through to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup.
The Genclerbirligi midfielder scored his second goal in as many games to ensure the Socceroos finish top of Group C and go through to the last eight unbeaten following two wins and a draw.
Australia, needing just a point to progress, went on the attack from outset as Blackburn's Brett Emerton pulled a shot wide after just two minutes before Tim Cahill fired wide from outside the area.
Bahrain did not really threaten until just before the half-hour when Abdulla Fatadi drove a shot over the bar and went even closer in the 31st minute when Fatadi cleverly played the ball into the path of Ismaeel Abdulatif. Mark Schwarzer did well to block the striker's shot at his near post.
The game was really starting to open up as half-time approached and Bahrain goalkeeper Mahmood Mansour had to be alert to keep out Harry Kewell's low effort.
It was Australia who drew first blood eight minutes before the break when Jedinak sent a fine dipping shot from over 20 yards into the back of the net.
Abdulatif was clearly brimming with confidence following his four-goal haul against India in Bahrain's last group game and he forced Schwarzer into a fine save five minutes into the second half with a vicious strike from just outside the area.
Jaycee John had the Australian defence in a panic in the 57th minute until Lucas Neill blocked the forward's sight of goal and in the end he could only lash a shot into the side-netting.
Schwarzer again maintained Australia's slender advantage after 68 minutes when he denied Abdulatif with his feet from point-blank range before the defence cleared the danger.
The Socceroos were creating little in terms of chances themselves, although Carl Valeri's seemingly harmless shot from distance needed Mansour to gather at the second attempt midway through the second half.
After that the game petered out into a midfield battle with Bahrain seemingly resigned to exiting the Asian Cup while Australia await the outcome of tomorrow's Group D matches to determine who they will face in the last eight.
Australia coach Holger Osieck was full of praise for man-of-the-match Mark Schwarzer after the Fulham goalkeeper produced vital saves to ensure Australia progressed to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup as Group C winners with a 1-0 win over Bahrain today.
"We know the quality that Mark has to offer to the team and I'm happy to have him there," said Osieck. "He had an excellent performance and made some good saves, especially in the second half. He kept us in the game and we must give him credit.
"It was our target to go to the quarter-finals and I'm glad to achieve the target. We have seen in other games that there are quality teams and I'm happy to be still in the competition."
The win was not without its negatives with Brett Emerton receiving a second yellow of the tournament and the Blackburn midfielder will be suspended for Saturday's quarter-final match while Everton's Tim Cahill picked up a knock, although he is expected to be fit for the next game.
Schwarzer was feeling confident of his side's chances of maintaining their run at the tournament regardless of who they face next.
"We will take each game as it comes and work on any opponent that is up against us," said the 38-year-old. "We will show them the respect they deserve but also believe in our own ability. We have another four days now until the next game. Hopefully now we can keep progressing and build on the results."
Meanwhile, Bahrain coach Salman Sharida was satisfied with the performance of his players, even though they have failed to reach the last eight for the second successive tournament.
"We had a good performance tonight and we were the better side as we controlled the game and we were organised," he said. "I'm satisfied with the performance and satisfied with the work that I did in the past two months. "Our players were strong and they showed good spirit in the game. We have had some difficult situations in the team but the players showed a good performance in the matches that we had."
In an absolutely enthralling match, Australia left it until almost the end of extra time to score the deciding goal to overcome Iraq and book a spot in the semi-finals against Uzbekistan. It was not without trying that Australia had left it so late, putting on their best performance of the tournament, controlling much of the game, denying Iraq all of just one good chance, and creating several great chances, even if fluency still wasn't quite there for the purists. Most chances came from out wide and corners, with incredibly tight marking on Cahill and excessive holding on the penalty box, largely the reason for preventing any goals. In extra time, the match really opened up, with Australia the most unlucky when Mile Jedinak inadvertently headed a goal-ward scissors kick by Sasa Ognenovski over the bar.
While fatigue certainly helped with the openness of the game, a critical fact was the substitution of Brett Holman who, and again belying the opinion of the commentators even the coach, was back to his menacing worse, constantly failing to make anything of the good possession gained and the space created for himself from his nice touches and sharp initial speed. Passes were errant, crossing was dire, shots were poor and decision making - mostly from holding onto the ball for too long - was terrible. These are the same aspects that plagued his game throughout his career with Australia that caused so much ire with fans. Now those initial nice touches - that were always in his game - are concealing his real material worth. Once Holman was out of the game, the attacks through midfield were rarely broken down.
In contrast, Matt McKay, proved a wonder, always looking to be creative, finding the right player, not messing about with the ball, intelligent running. He was the one who set-up the goal for Harry Kewell to finally score. McKay should retain his place at the expense of Holman, who was filling in on the right after Brett Emerton's suspension, after McKay was slotted into Holman's previous spot on the left. For Kewell, it was a frustrating match. He simply doesn't have a striker's killer edge. Tim Cahill, again, never really got into the game. It's just not his position up front and, worse, primarily is cause for the increased long-ball game seen at this tournament by Australia. Despite being so tightly marked, the fact he still could grab a few headed chances on goal, just confirms the freak nature of the player.
Uzbekistan next and should be an interesting game given the previous meetings. Those meetings during the World Cup qualifiers saw a ridiculously tepid Uzbekistan, especially in Tashkent, showing too much respect and sitting back so much. At the Asian Cup, they've been especially dangerous from midfield, with some spectacular long-range goals scored, and progressing to this stage with relative ease. The other semi is Korea vs Japan, after Korea beat Iran 1-0 in extra time and Japan overcame Qatar, 3-2.
Wonderful to see a referee so strict with yellow cards. It certainly prevented the match from becoming one of those dastardly, niggling type matches, with so many stoppages. Unfortunately, he was also a bit lax with holding in the penalty box from set-pieces and was ridiculously light on a double-footed lunging tackle on Kewell late in the game that only received a yellow. Considering the normal ineptitude of referees, and ignoring the usual half-dozen or so off-side calls from his linesmen that weren't, a job well done.
Fox Sports' telecasts typically are brilliant. To keep them brilliant, do not return to the goons in the studio so quickly after the match. If it's so important for the goons to interject their incoherent babble, at least leave the footage going of the after-match activities and simply allow them talk over the top of it. All the hand-shaking, shirt exchange and thanking fans was totally missed, for what? To see Melanie McLaughlin ask 30-second questions that could be asked in 5 seconds and for Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater to regurgitate much of the answers heard already and often obvious to the viewer anyway?
Australia owes so much to the Asian Football Confederation to for their acceptance. This tournament has been marvellous, and the Socceroo Realm will eternally thankful for this glorious opportunity after the debacle of Oceania. The team is learning and has relaxed the arrogance that was seen in their initial few years of membership. So please, Bosnich, it is not the case at all that Australia "should be beating a team like Iraq", or Uzbekistan in the semi-finals for that matter. No teams of such close ability should be beating any other in a one-off game. Maybe in a series of 10 game you could Australia should beat Iraq. Otherwise, it's totally disrespectful to the AFC, our opponents and ourselves.
Quarter Finals
13:25 GMT, January 22, 2011
Al Sadd Sports Club Stadium
Referee: Abdou Abdulrahman
Australia 1 (Harry Kewell 118')
Iraq 0
Yellow Cards
Australia: Mile Jedinak (76'), David Carney (90'), Lucas Neill (115')
Iraq: Nashat Akram (1'), Younis Khalef (44'), Ali Rehema (54'), Basem Al-Ogaili (84')
No Red Cards
Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Sasa Ognenovski, Tim Cahill (Scott McDonald 86'), Matt McKay, Luke Wilkshire, Carl Valeri, David Carney (Neil Kilkenny 109'), Mile Jedinak, Harry Kewell, Brett Holman (Nathan Burns 102')
Harry Kewell fired Australia into the semi-finals of the Asian Cup with a header deep into extra-time to see off Iraq at Al Sadd Stadium.
Kewell met Matt McKay's deep cross from the left with four minutes remaining and directed a header past Iraq goalkeeper Mohammed Kassid to set up a last-four meeting with Uzbekistan.
A dour first-half proved short on chances, McKay scooping the ball over the bar after latching onto Samal Saeed's poor defensive header the only notable action in the opening 40 minutes.
Australia then spurned two presentable opportunities before the interval.
First, a neat through-ball allowed McKay a clear sight of goal but the midfielder disappointingly shot straight at Mohammed Kassid before Kewell outmuscled Ali Erhaima as they contested Luke Wilkshire's delivery from deep but his lob was too high with the Iraq keeper rushing out to close him down.
Iraq then spurned the best opportunity of the game nine minutes after the break when Younus Mahmood threaded a fine ball into the path of Emad Mohammed and the midfielder fired across Mark Schwarzer but beyond the far post.
Sasa Ognenovski could only divert Lucas Neill's header from McKay's corner straight at Kassid, who pushed Brett Holman's drive from distance with 10 minutes to go.
Schwarzer then had to be alert to hold substitute Mustafa Kareem's header low down to his right as 90 minutes failed to produce a goal.
Ognenovski almost broke the deadlock seven minutes into the first additional period but his acrobatic overhead kick from a corner that was destined for the back of the net was inexplicably headed over the bar by Mile Jedinak from close range.
That miss did not prove costly, however, as with the game seemingly headed for penalties, Kewell timed his run in between two Iraq defenders to perfection and got on the end of McKay's delivery to head Australia into the last four.
Australia's coach Holger Osieck hailed a comprehensive display from his side after Harry Kewell's extra-time header knocked out defending Asian Cup champions Iraq and secured a semi-final meeting with Uzbekistan.
A keenly-contested encounter was settled four minutes from the end of the second additional period when Kewell got on the end of Matt McKay's cross to break the deadlock and exact a measure of revenge for the defeat by the same opponents in the group stage four years ago.
"I'm very pleased and happy with my team's performance. We managed to qualify for the semi-finals, which is definitely a great achievement and, looking at the game itself, although it went to extra time, during the regular 90 minutes we had more of the game," said Osieck.
"We played solidly in defence, we had a good structure, we created a lot of good chances and if I'm not mistaken, Iraq only had one great opportunity, the rest came from half-chances.
"We should have done our job in 90 minutes and then Iraq played very strongly in extra-time. Some of our key players were tired but we battled through and I'm very pleased for Harry Kewell that he was the one to score the winning goal.
"Matt McKay did a great job on the left and Brett Holman equally on the right flank. We had a lot of mobility up front, interchanging of positions. I'm very very pleased with what I've seen.
"Of course we should've capitalised on our opportunities and it didn't happen but I'm not negative. The players showed great determination in the game."
Having now reached the last four in only their second appearance at the continental competition, Osieck did not want to look beyond Tuesday's opponents.
"Now we need to recharge our batteries then we look at the game with Uzbekistan, that is my next target and I don't want to look further ahead," he added.
Iraq boss Wolfgang Sidka felt there was little to choose between the two sides and was left to rue Emad Mohammed's miss nine minutes after the interval that could have swung the tie in their favour.
"Australia had one more day's rest but I think, especially in extra-time, we played better than them," said the German.
"We created chances in that period and then two minutes from the end, a good cross and a good header, hard luck for us, good luck for the Australian team.
"I think we created our chances by playing football. I must praise my players especially for the last 30 minutes, we did everything at the end to try and win and we end up empty-handed.
"You saw everything in this game and we've always played in an attacking manner, tried to create chances and we got chances in extra time. We did everything but in the end, it was one cross and one header.
"We were disappointed to lose in the quarter-finals but the way we played I think was 100% okay."
When the Uzbeki coach said at the press conference that since Japan could beat Argentina, as they recently did 1-0, then quite possible for Uzbekistan to beat Australia. That showed the mindset of the Uzbekis if they believed the challenge was up to the level of Japan beating Argentina. Uzbekistan were disappointing in the least, if not a disaster in the extreme. After the third Australian goal, Uzbekistan fell apart, losing a man to a red card and conceding 3 more goals.
Until the point of unravelling, Uzbekistan looked hopeless anyway. Running with possession rates of 65% for the most part, they did little with the ball, passing about with little idea of actually a path to score. Australia picked off any chance they got, to be in complete control. Possession is one of the most useless statistics going. It's always about use of the possession, not the amount of it. Control of a match is always about tactics, and this the area that Australia not only excelled, they totally dominated.
In many respects, the perfect semi-final. Tired players could be eased through, with some - like Kewell and Cahill - substituted early, and others kept running to a minimum. Australia already had its tough matches with the group game against Korea and then the quarter final against Iraq, so should not be missing any of the edge required to complete the mission here, winning the final against an impressive Japan.
For Japan's part in the other semi-final, they were in a life-and-death battle against Korea, edging through on penalties after scores were level at 2-2 at the end of extra time. This came after going behind early in the game and after Korea equalised in the very last minute of ET.
Luke Wilkshire was quite lucky to avoid a second yellow, and therefore a send-off, with a professional foul, shrugging an Uzbeki off the ball. This was with the game at 1-0. Australia needs to avoid these silly fouls. The referee's been lenient because of the earlier yellow. Despite Wilkshire's initial yellow card possibly being harsh play was clearly made at the ball and the ball was contacted first, relying on referee leniency for the follow-up card is dangerous.
Interestingly, the yellow cards were annulled for the final, meaning no suspensions could be incurred. This creates a sense that players can be rougher in the semis. FIFA actually introduced this rule during the last World Cup so to avoid "the stars" missing out on the final. First, that shows FIFA's corrupt processes. Second, it defines a separate playing standard semi-finals. FIFA's actions shows a self-admission on the flaws of the suspension system. Instead of fixing it properly, they take this half-baked approach. That solution should be a temporary suspension from the game (10 minutes is probably enough) so, as consistent with red cards, the direct opposition is rewarded from the player's infringement, not subsequent opponents. Only on a direct red should suspensions be considered.
Again, and even faster this time, Fox Sports aborted the telecast barely seconds after the final whistle to return to the goons talking in the studio. We want to see the aftermath of our team's performance, not the inane waffle of three pinheads. Please, at least leave the visuals of the match going and speak over the top, that's if you there's any need to speak at all. Take note of American sports telecasts, and the moments after a match that are noteworthy for their absolute silence from all commentators, allowing the natural visual and aural experience to speak for itself.
The appalling offside decisions really plagued this game, costing both Australia and Uzbekistan clear chances, with Australia's coach taking real umbrage with one decision against Kruse. Others included a second early chance to Kewell after Matt McKay released him, and Tim Cahill caught from a long ball despite receiving the ball onside. While that criteria is not part of FIFA's offside rule, it should be, because receiving onside mitigates any advantage gained from being offside. Not that Cahill was offside at all in the first place. If FIFA ever get wise with video replay, the ultimate solution is allow play to continue, then review if a goal is scored.
Speaking of Matt McKay, this was one area where Australia dominated tactically. He was only ever an injury replacement, being retained despite two of those injured players returning. Brett Emerton was kept on the bench in the effort to retain McKay. The guy is a superstar, setting up two of the three early goals, and a model of discipline. When late in the game he was barged over in a fight for the ball, instead of retaliating in accordance with some of the arrogance seen from Australian players in the past, McKay got up, positioned himself to receive a pass, got the due flick-on from Robbie Kruse, and set up another goal. Brilliant. A deserved man of the match, and credit to coach Osieck for the team selection.
This was a game that saw three players score their first goals for Australia. Scott McDonald was not one of them. It seemed an opportune time for McDonald to break his duck. Osieck instead to chose to bring on Robbie Kruse, who actually missed two much easier chances, before finally scoring his goal after a goal-keeping error. Mind you, Kruse did beat 3 players en route to goal - almost direct from the kick-off after Australia's fifth goal.
It's poetic that Australia achieved such a result they did on this day. To all Socceroo Realm readers, enjoy the day, and revel in the knowledge that you are a fan of the one true symbol that reflects modern Australia: our national soccer teams, especially the Socceroos.
Semi-finals
16:25 GMT, January 25, 2011
Khalifa International Stadium
Referee: Ali Albadwawi
Uzbekistan 0
Australia 6 - Harry Kewell (5') Sasa Ognenovski (35') David Carney (65') Brett Emerton
(74') Carl Valeri (82') Robbie Kruse (83')
Yellow Cards
Uzbekistan - Ulughbek Bakaev (57')
Australia - Luke Wilkshire (15') Carl Valeri (38') David Carney (72')
Red Cards
Uzbekistan - Ulughbek Bakaev (67')
Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Sasa Ognenovski, Tim Cahill (Neil Kilkenny (71'), Matt McKay, Luke Wilkshire, Carl Valeri, David Carney, Mile Jedinak, Harry Kewell (Robbie Kruse 53'), Brett Holman (Brett Emerton 61')
Australia reached their first Asian Cup final in emphatic style by demolishing Uzbekistan at Khalifa Stadium.
Harry Kewell and Sasa Ognenovski had given Holger Osieck's side a useful half-time lead before David Carney killed off the semi-final encounter when he found the back of the net in the 65th minute.
Ulugbek Bakaev, two-goal hero from Uzbekistan's quarter-final triumph over Jordan, was then sent off two minutes later after collecting his second yellow card before Brett Emerton, Carl Valeri and Robbie Kruse completed the rout.
Australia almost went ahead in the opening couple of minutes when Tim Cahill's cross picked out the onrushing Brett Holman on the far side of the box but his side-footed volley was turned around the near post by goalkeeper Temur Juraev low to his right.
Kewell gave Australia the lead shortly afterwards when, after being played in by Matt McKay on the left side of the box, he took a couple of steps forward before drilling a low finish past Juraev and into the far corner.
Uzbekistan enjoyed good possession but were unable to carve out any clear chances and Australia almost doubled their lead after half an hour when Carney intercepted a wayward pass just before the halfway line and embarked on a forceful run down the left flank but elected to chip Juraev and the Uzbekistan keeper managed to get a hand to it before the ball was cleared.
Australia only had to wait four minutes to extend their lead, though. Carney's free-kick from the left was met by Cahill in a crowd of bodies and Ognenovski pounced on the loose ball to rifle home from close range.
Carney then netted the third goal in the 65th minute when McKay's pass freed the defender down the left side of the box and he slipped the ball under the advancing Juraev.
Bakaev then saw red soon after as a late tackle on Luke Wilkshire earned a second booking before Emerton drew a smart save out of Juraev.
The Blackburn midfielder was not to be denied, though, and he extended Australia's lead in the 74th minute when Wilkshire's ball over the top caught out the Uzbekistan defence and Kruse squared for Emerton to slide into the empty net.
Juraev parried Kruse's effort from inside the box after the striker found time and space as Australia ran riot and Valeri added the fifth eight minutes from the end when he converted from two yards following McKay's cutback from the byline.
Kruse then scored the sixth goal almost immediately when he won the ball in midfield, beat a defender and was fortunate to see his weak shot slip through Juraev's hands.
Stunned Uzbekistan coach Vadim Abramov offered no excuses for his side's demoralising display after their dreams of reaching a first Asian Cup final were emphatically crushed by Australia.
"I'm very sorry for the people who came to the stadium and also the supporters in Uzbekistan," said Abramov. "The way we played today, I cannot describe it. We were prepared but we played badly. This is a big problem. We made too many mistakes.
"Up until now, I believed that we could beat Australia and win the tournament. I don't know what happened. After the second goal, we wanted to attack but we made too many mistakes at the back.
"Even after the red card, we made too many mistakes. At 3-0 down, we tried to attack and this caused us many problems."
Australia will now contest their first continental final in just their second appearance when they face Japan on Saturday, and Osieck was thrilled with what proved to be his side's best performance of the tournament.
"We had a brilliant game today," said the German. "The players put on a great show and performance. I'm full of praise and credit for them. What they did today was fantastic.
"You can't expect a result like this. We definitely wanted to win the game and go to the final but you can never predict the score.
"The secret was the way we presented ourselves on the pitch. We were well structured, we had a great shape, we played high, we tried to create.
"Harry Kewell had a great game and he's had a great tournament so far but he's not the only one.
"All the other boys have done well and I'm very happy with the way our team has developed in the tournament."
Despite the 1-0 loss in extra time, it was a great tournament and a superb final. It was a pleasure to watch the team reach this far and perform so well. Winning only adds the satisfaction to it. The thrill from competing is the ride we remember most. While many lament that Australia could have, should have or would have won, that's ignoring the nature of the sport itself - that potentially unjust results are football's symbiotic life-force. Was Australia the better team on the day? They created a few more chances and created one more clear-cut chance. In the words of the late Johnny Warren, if it were a boxing match, you'd have stopped it at full time. Not that football is decided like that. It's decided on converting those chances. Japan did that, Australia didn't.
The three main chances that Australia bombed fell to Kewell (twice) and one to Emerton. Kewell created a glorious opening for himself right at the start of the second half, only to take an extra touch and lose the opportunity. His second was from a low long ball from deep. He ran onto it, headed it over the last defender, and hit the goal-keeper's foot with a close range shot. Six inches almost in any direction and he scores. Emerton missed his in the first extra time period, being set up perfectly to shoot a placed-shot wide. Robbie Kruse could have been the hero with a tough header, just tipped over the bar, that a few inches to the left would have scored. Japan had an open header in the second half that Okazaki placed wide, then the chance they scored being an open volley on 110 minutes. Much recrimination will go into the play. Not so much that Dave Carney left Lee to allow him the open shot, also that central defenders Neill and Ognenovski were no where to be seen, and even McKay tracking back could have continued on for extra security. It's difficult to be over critical in this circumstance given the generally impressive performance through the latter stages of the tournament, and the nature of extra time, where fatigue and concentration can be lost.
Japan's chance materialised directly from the area that was the prime the tactical failure of Australia: incessant long balls. As much as Australia played really well and subdued the fluid Japanese passing game into almost total submission, Japan were equally at ease defending often the lofted long balls coming in from deep. From one attempt came the immediate rebound play that saw Australia's defence out of position, ultimately seeing Japan score the winner. If the long ball game resulted in goals, then no complaints. The reality is that the strategy of Cahill up front proved a failure. Japan, as with earlier opponents in this tournament, kept him in such tight check that few headers had the required pace or direction to trouble the goal. The strategy ultimately became subversive to Australia's overall gameplan, pre-disposing the team unnecessarily to the long ball game and also losing Cahill's traditional weapon of ghosting in late on goals to feed off scraps. Now he was the one trying to create his own scraps. The inescapably damning statistic is that since Cahill's played up front in the Osieck era, and ignoring the game against weak India, Cahill has failed to score in 5 Asian Cup games and 4 warm-up games. Worse than that, in the Asian Cup, he rarely looked close. He simply needs to be freed of the ultra tight marking and returned to his more liberal role and annoying presence in midfield.
Outside from this positional dilemma with Cahill, coach Osieck's only curious decision in this Asian Cup final was the strange substitution of Neil Kilkenny for Cahill after Japan scored. Granted the player was already preparing to come on, Osieck should have aborted and used Scott McDonald. Instead, it was not only Kilkenny on, Ognenovski was then instructed to stay forward, again to facilitate this long ball game. Tall he might be, he's even less of a striker than Cahill.
Australia are host of the next Asian Cup, which will be a great indicator as to the integration of Australia into Asia and a chance for the tournament's profile to really increase with Australia's renowned capabilities to host major sporting events and with excellent crowds. The much talked about "golden generation" apparently will be past their best to finally win a major trophy. Whether they are, depends on the categorisation of players belonging to this generation. It's not quite clear. Already there's been a significant turnover from from the 2006 World Cup team, where only 4 players that could be retired by 2015 - Schwarzer, Neill, Emerton and Kewell - remaining in the team. Even from the 2010 World Cup, the turnover was high with players like Grella, Bresciano, Chipperfield and Moore gone. Of those four possible retirees by 2015, none have indicated that they want to quit the team, hoping to play on until the 2014 World Cup. With the 2015 Asian Cup only 6 months after that tournament - and the luring proposition of playing on home soil - their final chance indeed is not so final.
Final
15:00 GMT, January 29, 2011
Khalifa International Stadium
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov
Australia 0
Japan 1 - Tadanari Lee (109')
Yellow Cards
Australia - Carl Valeri 17', Brett Holman 36', Matt McKay 111'
Japan - None
No Red Cards
Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Sasa Ognenovski, Tim Cahill (Neil Kilkenny 110'), Matt McKay, Luke Wilkshire, Carl Valeri, David Carney, Mile Jedinak, Harry Kewell (Robbie Kruse 103'), Brett Holman (Brett Emerton 65')
Australia suffered heartbreak in their bid to lift the Asian Cup for the first time as Japan won Saturday's final 1-0 in extra time in Doha.
Substitute Tadanari Lee struck in the 109th minute to shatter Australia's hopes and give Japan a record fourth Asian Cup title, their third in the past four tournaments.
The Socceroos were gallant in an enthralling contest played in front of 37,174 fans at Khalifa Stadium and it was a single defensive lapse that cost them.
Yuto Nagatomo beat off Luke Wilkshire on the left flank and sent in a curling cross and Lee, a 99th minute substitute, was left totally unmarked to smash a well-taken volley past Mark Schwarzer.
It was a cruel blow for an Australian defence that had until that point been brilliant in deflecting Japan's attack, with captain Lucas Neill and Sasa Ognenovski particularly impressive.
The loss revived memories of Australia's first Asian Cup campaign in 2007, when they were dumped out by Japan in the quarter-finals.
It also cruelled a chance for veterans such as Neill, Schwarzer, Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton to claim a piece of silverware for a golden age of Australian football that included qualifying for back-to-back World Cups.
The match went to extra time after a scoreless, entertaining 90 minutes in which both sides created several good opportunities.
Australia started brightly with Matt McKay, who kept his place in the starting line-up ahead of Emerton, squandering a chance in only the second minute after some impressive build-up from Tim Cahill, Brett Holman and Carl Valeri.
The Socceroos suffered a scare when Schwarzer fell awkwardly while making a clearance off the goal line but the gloveman, who broke Alex Tobin's caps record in his 88th appearance, played on.
Some brilliant service from Wilkshire and David Carney created a host of chances in the air, with Cahill ever present and Kewell forcing a great reaction save from man-of-the-match Eiji Kawashima in the 19th minute.
Japan kept the ball well to take the sting out of Australia's momentum and also looked the part going forward, with brilliant midfielders Keisuke Honda and Yasushito Endo pulling the strings.
Australia thought they had taken the lead three minutes into the second half when a Wilkshire cross struck the bar and was almost bundled in by Cahill and referee Ravshan Irmatov rightly called play on despite Australia's claims the ball had crossed the line.
Holger Osieck introduced Emerton in the 65th minute for a tiring Holman and Japan should have taken the lead a minute later with their best chance.
Yuto Nagatomo found Shinji Okazaki with a pin-point cross. The striker glanced his header agonisingly wide with Schwarzer beaten.
It was then Australia's turn to miss a golden opportunity when Kewell cleverly beat Daiki Iwamasa to get one-on-one with Kawashima, only for the goalkeeper made a brilliant save with his feet.
The end-to-end action continued in extra time, with Emerton scuffing a good chance in the 103rd minute before Osieck handed Kruse a enormous opportunity off the bench in place of Kewell.
The Melbourne Victory striker almost scored with his first touch, forcing another brilliant save out of Kawashima with an inch-perfect header.
With the match seemingly heading for penalties, it was Japan who made the breakthrough, with Australia's defence breached for only the second time in the tournament.
Australians young and old sank with agony and were visibly devastated when the final whistle blew and the Japanese camp exploded into celebrations.
Alberto Zaccheroni, Japan's coach...
"Physically, we were very exhausted for the final. (Keisuke) Honda, (Yasuhito) Endo and (Makoto) Hasebe did not train, (Shinji) Okazaki yesterday couldn't even walk, Nagatomo had a foot problem and couldn't prepare.
"We were playing against a very good physical and tactical team like Australia, so the final was a separate game. Our attack, we played with speed and accuracy, that's the feature this team has at the moment and they improved all the way to the final.''
Speaking about Eiji Kawashima's, who made two crucial saves in each half to deny Harry Kewell...
"I did not know that he was being criticised by the media, he did very well in the World Cup,'' he added. "I don't like changing keepers a lot, of course sometimes they make mistakes and then you have to deal with criticism as well. Kawashima played with composure and he knows that I trust him. He played well in the semi-final and the final and answered the criticism. Against Australia he had plenty to do and he performed very well.
"I have not won an international competition, this is the first time. This is an excellent team and we have excellent players so I am proud to manage this team.''
Japanese defender Maya Yoshida on Australia forcing a formation change...
"We had to make a change to our system during the match but in the end, it helped us to win the game.
"In the first half, we couldn't adjust to their long balls because Australia has many tall and strong players so that's why we changed formation.
"Iwamasa who came on is a very strong header of the ball and he controlled the defensive line well.
Yoshida on needing to improve for the next World Cup...
"It's nice to win a trophy but we should not be satisfied with the result of this competition because we have to improve from now to the next World Cup.
"We can get better playing in competitions but we have to go out and get better now."
Australia's coach Holger Osieck admitted his side paid the price for some poor finishing...
"We had our opportunities and what is always encouraging is the way we play and we create opportunities,'' said the German. "However, it is crucial to convert them and later on in the game it backfired and that is a problem. We had to be more clinical in our finishing and it's not enough to win a game if you don't score.
"We have seen a very exciting game between two very good teams. You can imagine we are disappointed, we definitely had our opportunities, unfortunately we couldn't convert.
"I'm very proud of my players, their performance and their attitude. I give them credit and really feel sorry for the boys that they didn't get the reward for their efforts. You can imagine in our dressing room it's not a great atmosphere, everybody's really sad. All in all, our team represented Australia in a great way.''
Australian defender Sasa Ognenovski ruesd the missed chances...
"I think we created enough chances to win the game but we probably weren't clinical enough and at this level your mistakes get punished.
"I think the Australian fans can be proud of what we've achieved here and unfortunately we couldn't bring the Asian Cup home but I don't think any of the boys can be questioned on their effort or anything like that.
"We threw everything at them but unfortunately the ball wasn't crossing the line for us."
Captain Lucas Neill added...
"Mixed feelings: proud, disappointed. We always felt in control of the game even though we gave away a lot of possession to Japan it never felt they were really going to hurt us.
"In our defence we felt solid and strong and then one lapse in concentration and maybe a moment of fatigue in extra time, it's gifted them the goal."
In the Herald-Sun today, David Carney, the player seen most directly responsible for conceding the winning goal to Japan in the Asia Cup final, spoke. It's been long anticipated to hear his reactions, after he was too distraught to face the media at the time. It should also be noted that while Carney was caught desperately out of position, Tadanari Lee - the goal scorer - did make a perfectly timed step towards the near post, fooling a tired Carney into anticipating the cross there, before Lee stepped away to open the space for his winning volley.
About the Asian Cup loss and future hopes for 2015 and his club Blackpool...
I was gutted, it felt almost sickening in the end.
To get there and play as well as we did and lose was heartbreaking.
We had our chances, we were constantly creating but that's football.
I've gone from one extreme to the other - from playing the Asian Cup final to trying to keep Blackpool up - and that's the main aim now.
Hopefully I can put the disappointment from the final behind me now and get a few wins for Blackpool to stay up.
Even though the next Asian Cup is at home it's four years away now so we will use this to channel our energies into the World Cup qualifiers.
About the incident...
I just got dragged in thinking it was going near post.
If I didn't go near the post, he (Lee) probably would've went (there) because there was so much room - it was one of those decisions you had to make.
It was unfortunate, a mistake on my part but I'm big enough and old enough to take it.
If you look at the game I put quite a few crosses into box and I probably played better in the final than in the semi-final.
We didn't want it to go to penalties because we deserved to win it.
On his club coach, Ian Holloway's, thoughts...
Holloway said he thought I was the best player on the park for a few of the games.
The Asian Cup was good in that sense. I got six games under my belt and I was feeling sharp.
It should be remembered that Carney's a victim of circumstance being his error was the most recent to affect the game result. Players like Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton missed golden chances to score, which would never have seen Carney in this invidious situation in the first place. To be fair, those players, along with captain Lucas Neill, acknowledge that the match is decided by the team effort, that the match really should have been won before this time.
This diplomatic sentiment was notably expressed throughout the competition, and was wonderful to see after the previous arrogance of the last World Cup, various qualifiers and previous Asian Cup. It wasn't just empty speech either. Sincerity was backed up on the pitch with few yellows, nasty tackles or contemptuous retribution. Words are always hollow if not validated by actions.
The Asian Cup was nice preview to the of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Most notably the weather was just perfect. There's no doubt the tournament must be played during this period. Also the close proximity of stadia will allow fans to attend multiple matches. That alleviates some of the problems associated with the country, especially Qatar, whose capital was called the dullest place on Earth by Lonely Planet guide.
One problem was organisers fear of empty stadia. Amazingly, they were even worried about the final, allowing in thousands of local workers free of charge hours before all fans arrived. Depending on sources, hundreds to thousands were locked outside and held back by strict security despite waving their tickets. The Qatari authorities' plan was for workers to fill the ends of the stadium that were in fact poorly sold and seem to have miscalculated the numbers let in. Regardless of excuses, a dreadful look and hardly eases the scepticism of those that believe Qatar can't handle the World Cup or shouldn't be holding it at all. The traffic was another nightmare despite relatively small crowds compared to a World Cup. That will be alleviated by a rail system.
Especially on Fox Sports, it was often mentioned of the drought, Korea's last win being 1960. Quite simply, until 2007, Korea didn't take the competition seriously - always sending below strength teams, and not even qualifying on three occasions.
With the 2014 World Cup on the horizon, there's been much opinion of whether the side should be turned-over in preparation. In fact, some commentators believed this Asian Cup should have been used as a developmental tool rather than treat it as the serious competition. That was always nonsense. The Asian Cup is Australia's second most important tournament now, so not to send their best team in order to win it, would have been just disrespecting Asia.
There's simply no point for wholesale changes to the squad just because certain players may not be at the 2014 World Cup. First of all, Australia needs to qualify for that World Cup, and you need your best team available to do that. This is not a club team where there can be a concerted effort at long term planning and squad building. National teams are representative by nature - the best of your current players, and that notion of "best" evolves naturally and often quite erratically. If one or two drop out in the interim, so be it. Another player is then brought in. We saw with McKay, Kruse and Kilkenny, that could do the job. If Australia start making drastic changes for the sake of it, it's asking for trouble. As for the players themselves, none of them have indicated quitting anyway.