01/08/2011: Comfortable group for first phase
24/08/2011: Thailand and Saudi Arabia - preview
12/10/2011: Too slick for Oman; Domination of Malaysia; Offside
issues again
12/11/2011: 1-0 loss to Oman adds excitement for remaining phase;
Again, offside issues
15/11/2011: Australia through after 1-0 win against Thailand as
battle for second still on
29/02/2012: Three goal burst consoles early woes against Saudi Arabia
09/03/2012: Deja-vu World Cup draw as old friends return
Time flies. Qualifiers start in September and Australia has been dealt the relatively comfortable draw of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Thailand. Obviously Saudi Arabia and Australia are the big two with Oman possible to create an upset, especially at home. Australia really did struggle with some of the away games last time, most notoriously against Bahrain where a last minute goal stole the match, and away to China where a last minute penalty to win the game was saved. The toughest group would have been in place of Japan in Group C.
Australia have an early danger game by playing in Saudi Arabia just 4 days after hosting Thailand. A slip-up there will keep the group interesting. Unfortunately, the home match against the Saudis is the last match, which potentially takes the gloss off the fixture if the group is already wrapped up, as was the case last time with China and Japan being hosted as the finals in Australia's first and second phase qualifying, respectively. Of course, if the group is still alive, it will be a perilous home game.
As usual, the top 2 from each of the 5 groups qualify to a round robin of two groups of 5 teams. Top 2 qualify for Brazil, the third-placed teams play for the right to play effectively the sixth place South American team, since Brazil automatically qualify as hosts. Oceania's best team will play-off against Concacaf's fourth placed team. Unlike the lobbying and arbitrary measures that traditionally decide these inter-continental pairings, this time they were decided by a random draw.
Group A: China, Jordan, Iraq, Singapore
Group B: Korea Republic, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon
Group C: Japan, Uzbekistan, Syria, DPR Korea
Group D: Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Thailand
Group E: Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, Indonesia
September 2: Australia v Thailand, Oman v Saudi Arabia.
September 6: Saudi Arabia v Australia, Thailand v Oman.
October 11: Australia v Oman, Thailand v Saudi Arabia.
November 11: Oman v Australia, Saudi Arabia v Thailand.
November 15: Thailand v Australia, Saudi Arabia v Oman.
February 29: Australia v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Thailand.
The Socceroo Realm will be on vacation during the first two World Cup qualifiers. Thankfully, these matches will not define too much, unless there's an unexpected crash to Thailand at home as well as the potential loss away to Saudi Arabia. One win and one draw would be the obvious result to take now, while losing to Saudi Arabia would not be any reason to ring alarms. Australia is in Asia. We are there for the competition. We want competition. The last campaign saw qualification simply fall into Australia's lap. A nice, tough one would suit both Australia and the region well. Australia needed to be tested, and the region needs to improve their standard.
Australia's on target for the final phase of World Cup qualifying after a slick 3-0 win over disappointing Oman last night. Oman never looked in the game after falling behind after 8 minutes, and that was despite a wrongly called offside chance just after the hour when Australia was caught square and the ball lobbed over the goal-keeper and into the net. It would have been an injustice for Australia not to win, and soon after they wrapped up the game with 2 more goals.
It's ironic that the toughest test Australia has had was in the first game, at home against Thailand, in which they recovered from a 1 goal deficit to win 2-1 - and apparently in a style not too convincing. With the Socceroo Realm away overseas for the first two qualifiers, only highlights, media reports and fans' reactions of the first two qualifiers were seen. Suddenly it was doomsday with the team playing terribly only for the sentiment to switch to full praise a few days later after the 3-1 win away to Saudi Arabia. Facts are that no team will always be brilliant. That's the nature of sport. Relax and judge broad picture.
The broad picture right now is that the team is playing consistently well, even if you consider some of the opponents have not been able to offer a full test. Most pleasing in the recent transition of dropping Tim Cahill to the bench or as a result of his unavailablity, is the death of the long ball game. While the argument could be there that Cahill is capable of playing as a striker, the facts remain that his role there with Joshua Kennedy naturally incites the long-ball game from his teammates. Now the ball is kept on the ground, which has also aided Kennedy's ground skills with his passing now becoming just as great an asset as his heading. When Cahill returns, put him back to midfield where he belongs.
Back to the bad offside call, which was really the only issue of the game, at least for this observer. Poor offside officiating continues to be the biggest blight on the game for the simple reason that there's usually several bad calls a game and these calls are actually denying goals and causing associated problems like compressed space and diving. Strikers are frustrated and feel ripped off. The natural response is to cheat. When compared to goal-line issues, there are barely several a season, yet they get all the publicity. With fans, commentators and officials alike being so apathetic to offside officiating, nothing will ever be done.
One only needs compare the response to Mile Jedinak's goal not long after Oman's denied goal. Both were level. The commentary were happy to praise the decision for Jedinak and equally happy not castigate the one for Oman. Of course, had Jedinak's goal being wrongly called offside, the commentators would have been content to let that decision pass as is the cultural norm for the game just as they effectively did for Oman. The mentality is so skewed that mistakes that deny goals are tolerated far more than mistakes that cause goals. With such warped football culture like this, why is it still a surprise that there's ridicule against the sport from novice footballing audiences like those from Australia and the USA? As a devotee of the sport now for 20 years, I still struggle with the absurd mentality that occurs.
There is a simple solution to offsides. First, a player is only offside if at the time the ball is passed (the rule now) AND when he receives the ball (any advantage from being offside is now negated). This solves all the problems of passive/active offside, and reduces the amount of decisions the inept referees need to make. Second, and most importantly, the linesman never signals offside unless a goal is scored. If he suspected offside in the lead-up, he signals and there's a quick video review. This has the double effect of getting offsides right and clearing the game of unnecessary stoppages.
Australia 3 - Brett Holman (8'), Joshua Kennedy (65'), Mile Jedinak (85')
Oman 0
Sydney ANZ Stadium
In the other group match, Thailand drew at home to Saudi Arabia to keep them in second place on the table, half-way through this qualification phase. Thailand are proving far more impressive than anyone imagined. While their progress to the next phase would be great for the broader development of Asia, for the Gulf nations to be losing two countries so early, they won't be happy, especially not after qualifying any teams for the 2010 World Cup.
TEAM P W D L GD PTS Australia 3 3 0 0 6 9 Thailand 3 1 1 1 2 4 Saudi Arabia 3 0 2 1 -2 2 Oman 3 0 1 2 -6 1
On the Friday prior, Australia dominated in its preparation match with Malaysia, winning 5-0. Malaysia were a goal down just after a minute when Australia's succession of passes right from the kick-off resulted in Luke Wilkshire scoring after a delightful through-ball by Joshua Kennedy. Kennedy then scored two himself with Alex Brosque making it 4-0 at half-time. Brosque made it 5-0 late in the game. While hardly a test, it proved a worthwhile exhibition for fringe players like Brosque, Rhys Williams, James Troisi, Adam Sarota and Michael Zullo. Adam Federici also got a game in place of the injured Mark Schwarzer.
Australia 5 - Luke Wilkshire (3'), Joshua Kennedy (33'), Alex Brosque (39'), Joshua
Kennedy (45'), Alex Brosque (69')
Malaysia 0
Canberra Stadium
07/09/2011
Saudi Arabia 1 - Naser Al-Shamrani (65')
Australia 3 - Joshua Kennedy (40'), Joshua Kennedy (56'), Luke Wilkshire (pen 77')
King Fahd International Stadium
02/09/2011
Australia 2 - Joshua Kennedy (58'), Alex Brosque (86')
Thailand 1 - Teerasil Dangda (15')
Brisbane Suncorp Stadium
Australia maintained its flawless start to qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Oman at ANZ Stadium on Tuesday night.
Goals to Brett Holman, Josh Kennedy and Mile Jedinak ensured the Socceroos claimed maximum points from its first three qualifiers after wins over Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
The result means Holger Osieck's team is virtually assured progression to the final stage of qualifying in June next year, only needing as little as a point from its remaining three games in the group to ensure it.
While Oman had proved stiff opposition in three previous meetings, Australia always looked in control in front of 24,372 fans, despite lacking a cutting edge in front of goal for parts of the game.
Osieck made three changes from Friday's night's 5-0 friendly win over Malaysia, with Holman and Jedinak returning to the starting line-up and Matthew Spiranovic starting in central defence ahead of Sasa Ognenovski.
The Socceroos survived some nervous moments and sloppy defending early as Oman made use of its pace with several swift counter-attacking moves.
Just as it was able to do against Malaysia, Australia then crushed its opponent's spirit early when Holman netted his sixth international goal in the eighth minute.
The in-form AZ Alkmaar midfielder was on hand to turn home a neat Matt McKay square ball after Oman had failed to clear a dangerous Rhys Williams cross.
Australia maintained its dominance but couldn't add to the scoreboard for a stretch despite Holman's tireless work and McKay's continued attacking threat.
It finally put the result beyond doubt in the 65th minute when Kennedy continued his stunning scoring run with his eighth goal in his past five international matches.
Holman was again involved, squaring a ball for Wilkshire who had his shot saved by Oman's English-based goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi, and Kennedy was on hand to smash in from close range.
Hard-working Jedinak completed the rout in the 85th minute, cleverly flicking in a curling Wilkshire free kick from close range.
Oman was limited to a handful of sights on goal, with Australian 'keeper Adam Federici thwarting its best chance with a stunning save in the in the 68th minute to deny Ahmed Al Mahaijri's curling free kick.
The result left the Paul Le Guen-coached Omanis needing a miracle to progress beyond the group, with only a single point from three matches.
Coach Holger Osieck praised the team after the match...
I always keep saying the 11 players on the pitch are all key players
If they don't have the quality or the potential, they don't have the right to play in the Socceroos.
I'm very pleased by the performance of the team. I knew it would be a tricky game and I think from the very beginning we showed that we were in command.
It was important for us to win, but it's not a finished situation. We still have to win games, gain points ... the boys are all aware of that.
Australia still need 1 point to assure qualification for the next phase, with an away match to Thailand and a home match to Saudi Arabia to come. Last night Australia lost 1-0 to Oman, courtesy of some slopping marking that saw Amad Al Hosni put through with a long through-ball from within Oman's own half. Ali took the ball in stride and score beautifully across Mark Schwarzer. From there, Australia tried their hardest to equalise, only to be met with concerted Omani defending and horrendous offside refereeing.
As we saw with the original struggle to Thailand at home and then the win away to Saudi Arabia, the temptation is to read more into the result than there really is. Australia didn't play that badly, and Oman played well. Oman could score while Australia could not. They had several good chances, they just didn't convert them. It's football. It's a notorious game for low scores, tight matches and upsets. Not that this match is such a great upset. Certainly not like the $8 offered for an Omani win. It's a Gulf country, they are on home ground, Australia had minimal preparation, it's tough. We always freely say these games will be tough, then when an unfavourable result does come, it's battle stations, searching for glaring holes, picking apart the entire footballing process in this country, demanding an inquisition.
This result is a great reminder that Asia is tough and Asia should be tough and we want Asia to be tough. Worst would be to treat the next two games little more than training games then go into the final phase complacent and get rolled. Now the national psyche is snapped back into alert mode and there's some life in the next two games. The qualification phases were starting to get boring. Now there's some excitement. At least some mild excitement. While a point from either of the final two games will be enough, Australia could only fail to qualify if they lost both games, and Saudi Arabia and Thailand win both of theirs (each beating Australia and Oman). Therefore, if Australia lose to Thailand and Saudi Arabia don't beat Oman, Australia are still through.
In other groups, all with two rounds remaining, Jordan and almost certainly Iraq have qualified from Group A. Korea looks safe in Group B with Lebanon two points ahead of Kuwait. Japan and Uzbekistan have sown up Group C. Iran and Qatar look safe in Group E, both 3 points ahead of Bahrain.
It's interesting in a week just passed that saw mass hysteria about Melbourne Victory's Matthew Foschini's supposedly unjust red card against Tomas Broich, after Foschini connected studs-up in an incredibly dangerous tackle, that we had at least 3 blatant wrong offside calls that escape with minor scrutiny. Why? These are decisions that, in one case, denied a goal, and the other two denied two great goal chances. So where's the hysteria? Where's the call for a FIFA representative to be on Fox Sports to explain the decisions? It's no where. Compare that to Foschini, who only denied Broich keeping possession of the ball, these refereeing errors denied goals. It's bizarre. Regular readers would be well aware of the complaint here of this "anti-goal" culture, when we should be encouraging an pro-goal culture.
The worst call was the one a few minutes after Oman scored that denied a goal. Kewell was running side by side with his marker, lept and headed the ball forward for Brett Holam to score. At no stage in transit was he offside, even when he jumped and won the ball. This should be the most simplest call in the entire history of the sport to make. There was another similarly bad call, Oman suffered a bad call, while there were two or three other potential ones for Australia, including one on Brett Emerton, that could not be confirmed because of the sloppy decisions for replays by the broadcaster.
There was also a claim in the second half for a penalty on Luke Wilkshire. Nothing in that. Wilkshire tripped himself up as he tried to spin off his marker. The referee got that correct. Of course, there were also the usual hack tackles and tackles from behind that weren't punished as required and a nasty double-sliding studs-up tackle when Luke Wilkshire and Ahmed Mubarak colliding into each other, causing both to roll around injured. Technically, both deserved a red. Mubarak got a yellow; it could have been for back-chat. Obvious referees are loath to give red cards. Then change the law, because a yellow is no where near sufficient and is not respected.
The Socceroo Realm has advocated for years that a yellow should mean 15 minutes out of the game. That's fast becoming the most sensible idea. No one could argue that Foschini at least deserved that. The argument against him was that the red was too harsh. The same could be said for Wilkshire and Mubarak. The same could be said for goalies bringing down strikers. The same could be said for Harry Kewell in the World Cup match against Ghana, harshly red-carded for inadvertently blocking the ball with his hand. Fifteen minutes off is ample punishment and does not crucify a player or team if the decision is wrong or "controversial". It also rewards the infringed team immediately, rather than the ludicrous situation now of rewarding a future opponent with the player suspended if two yellows are incurred in separate games. That's, of course, unless it's the semi-final stage of a major tournament when FIFA, in their supreme madness, decides it wants the best players in the final at the expense of its laughable "fair play" slogan, so scrap previously incurred yellow cards. That's the grossest admission of a system flawed without ever the need to say it.
Australia's coach Holger Osieck is adamant a handful of days will be sufficient for Australia to bounce back from a shock 1-0 away World Cup qualifying loss to Oman The Socceroos missed their chance to secure their passage to the final Asian qualifying round, as they struggled for fluency and penetration in Muscat early on Saturday (AEST).
Despite the setback, Australia hold a commanding lead at the head of the group with two rounds to go following Saudi Arabia's 3-0 home win over Thailand in Riyadh. Australia (nine) lead from Saudi Arabia (five) with Thailand and Oman both a further point back. Australia can clinch top spot in the group with a win over Thailand in Bangkok on Tuesday, while a point will guarantee second spot at worst and qualification for the next round.
Despite Australia having plenty of possession and territory it was an 18th minute strike by Amad Al Hosni that sunk the Socceroos and kept Oman's own qualification hopes alive. Oman showed plenty of defensive resolve to clinch their first win in five attempts against Australia.
Osieck, who tasted defeat for just the third time in his 20-match tenure, said his side didn't perform to their potential and shouldn't have lost to what he regarded as an inferior team. He denied Australia underestimated a side ranked 83 places below them.
Only four days separate the games in Muscat and Bangkok, and Osieck is adamant Australia had ample time to turn things around. "I realised what went wrong and we're going to work on that and the two training's will be sufficient for that," Osieck said in the post-match press conference. "I will analyse it together with the team, but we didn't show the cohesion ... that we normally have and that was one of the reasons why we didn't play our game."
The Socceroos had a potential 27th minute Brett Holman equaliser ruled out due to a close offside call while a second half penalty shout for a challenge on Luke Wilkshire was rejected. Osieck was philosophical about the penalty decision. "It's a referee's decision, what can you do? But that was not the reason for not winning," Osieck said.
Osieck made two changes to the team that thumped Oman 3-0 in Sydney last month, recalling veterans Harry Kewell and Mark Schwarzer in place of Michael Zullo and Adam Federici. Kewell was pushed up alongside striker Josh Kennedy and the versatile Matt McKay moved to left back. The quality of delivery into the Oman penalty area was patchy and with the promising partnership of Brett Holman and Josh Kennedy broken up, Australia lacked menace up front.
The decisive goal came after Australia lost the ball deep in the Oman half and Mohammed Al Makhaini split the defence with a slide rule through ball. Ali got in ahead of Rhys Williams and drove a fierce shot past Schwarzer from the edge of the penalty area.
Dead ball exponent Hussain Al Hadri twice went close with quality free kicks in the first half, forcing a good save from Schwarzer and another attempt was deflected onto a post.
Australia had several off-target headers and shots in the first half. After half-time, Williams had a venomous drive tipped over the bar as Australia intensified their efforts for an equaliser.
Robbie Kruse replaced Kewell in the 54th minute and Brett Emerton came on for a limping Williams with just over 15 minutes left, but for all their pressure Australia struggled to create clear cut opportunities.
A Brett Holman header on 76 minutes was more than enough for Australia to qualify for the next phase. In fact, with Saudi Arabia only drawing at home Oman in the group's other game, had Australia lost, they were still through barring a 6 goal hiding in their final match, against Saudi Arabia. Despite the "must win" cries by the commentators for Thailand, all three remaining teams in the group are in easy reach of second place. With the Saudis on 6 points, Oman on 5 and Thailand on 4, less than a win against Australia for Saudi Arabia will see Oman or Thailand in prime position to easily leap-frog into second. The group's other game is Oman at home to Thailand. On probability, Oman are favourites to qualify with Australia. It's a lesson learnt yet again of never writing off teams just because they lose their early games. It doesn't matter when you win and accumulate the required points to qualify, it only matters as long as you do.
It was a fascinating match with Thailand, in a baying cauldron, tough, and no questions asked, as any quintessential Asian World Cup qualifier should be, placing Australia under substantial pressure by their speed and prompt attitude. In contrast, Australia were lethargic and prone to pass sideways or back rather than look for an immediate opportunity to go forward. It was so frustrating that when time and time again a neat pass was played to a player that had drawn a defender or two, that instead of knocking it forward for the initial player to run forward and receive the return pass, it would be flicked back to him or player in possession would away towards his goal and play sideways. Movement off the ball was just dreadful. If a player was making a run, as often Brett Emerton would, the ball was slow to be passed or not passed at all. Yes, you guessed it, the pass would go backwards and often eventually back to the goalie. That's great for the possession statistics, it's not great for breaking down teams, alleviating pressure or winning games.
As it eventuated, after Thailand failed to score from one of their several good opportunities, including one shot from point-blank that went over the bar, Australia scored following a steal in midfield by Mile Jedinak. He passed to Holman who passed to Emerton. Emerton poised as Holman ran to the back post, before lobbing the ball over for an easy header. Even then, there was no confidence watching at home as it looked like the move would collapse, just as other moves had before. Until then, Thailand deserved much of the credit for Australia's impotence, keeping the pressure up, and constantly nagging at the Australians as soon as they gained possession. Let's not forget that they contributed to Australia's haphazard display more than anything.
Once Australia scored, from there, the mood of the Thais changed and they became narky, kicking out at the Australians, and lucky to finish the game with all players on the field. One such outburst was against Luke Wilkshire as he rushed to make a throw in. Wilkshire was later miffed at receiving a yellow for a soft tackle that now rules him out of the final match.
There really is a fundamental in equity in the game. The yellow for kicking out means nothing, while a soft tackle can suspend you from a future match. More than ever, the Socceroo Realm believes a yellow for such offences must mean a 15 minute suspension from the game. It's simply a logical progression from a red card. If a red means a permanent suspension from the remainder of the game, then sure a yellow must mean a lesser suspension, instead getting off virtually scot free. Worse, the team that is infringed gets no benefit, while, in the case of suspensions, a future opponent gains the benefit - in this case it's Saudi Arabia. How is that fair to, say, Oman in the group's other final game, see the Saudis have gained a benefit and greater chance to win against Australia for no apparent reason? It's not. If these temporary suspensions are part of the game, so soon will see some of the cynical stuff eradicated as well.
There were two interesting offside calls against Thailand, notable for their interpretation by the different lines officials. The first saw the Thai player not even chase the ball, for it to swiftly roll into the hands of Schwarzer. That should have been play on. The second saw the flag go up only once the Thai player received the ball, albeit tightly marked by an Australian. By this time, he was back on side, so the decision looked weird. As discussed in the previous match's report, these sort of decisions should be play on as well, because clearly any gain from being offside when the ball is played is now gone.
One other big lesson from the game is that the referees are responsible for all aspects of officiating, and that includes stopping the play for injuries. Coach Holger Osieck was absolutely fuming when Jedinak put the ball out of play in a great attacking opportunity after a Thai player remained down at the other end of the ground. Other than the stupidity of players taking such responsibility, it's ultra hypocritical when most of them in the next play would readily be launching dangerous tackles, diving for penalties, trying to claim throw-ins and corners when they know they touched the ball last, or feigning injuries to actually stop the game in a dangerous attack against them! Why is the moral compass so selective? The players soon learnt, and after a Thai play remained down after slamming into Mark Schwarzer, the players kept playing... even with the furious booing of the crowd. Eventually the referee stopped play, as it should be. FIFA must put an edict out reminding players of this. The referee is the sole person that officiates the game.
In Group A, Jordan and Iraq are through. Group B sees Korea and Lebanon through. Group C sees Uzbekistan and Japan through. Group D is Australia and most likely Oman. Group E sees Qatar and Iran almost certainly through, ahead of Bahrain. A nice final group for Australia involving tough teams and new challenges would be Australia, Korea, Iran, Jordan and Lebanon. That would leave the other group as Uzbekistan, Japan, Iraq, Qatar and Oman. Either way, there's perilous trips in each group.
GROUP D P W D L GD Pts Australia 5 4 0 1 6+ 12 Saudi Arabia 5 1 3 1 1+ 6 Oman 5 1 2 2 5- 5 Thailand 5 1 1 3 2- 4
A headed goal from Brett Holman fired Australia into the final stage of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying in a hard-fought 1-0 win over gallant Thailand in Bangkok on Tuesday night. Needing only a point to seal progression to the final round of Asian qualifying, starting in June, Australia had to soak up some heavy pressure at Supachalasai Stadium before Holman's 76th minute header put the outcome beyond doubt. The result means Holger Osieck's side heads into its final Group D qualifier at home against Saudi Arabia in February knowing the job is already done, possibly allowing the German coach to experiment with his squad.
Despite talk of being determined to atone for Friday's shock 1-0 loss to Oman in Muscat, the Socceroos were far from convincing on a humid Bangkok evening. It was left to the ever-improving Holman to again prove his worth with his second goal in three international matches.
The AZ Alkmaar striker found Brett Emerton out wide and the Sydney FC winger sent in a fine cross before Holman steered a header into the back of the net. Emerton was one of two changes to the starting side from the loss in Oman, with Michael Zullo also coming in as injured Harry Kewell and Rhys Williams made way.
Despite beginning with a familiar-looking team Australia looked disjointed and struggled to control possession for much of the first half. They were lucky to go into the break level, with the only genuine chance of the half falling to the host. Impressive midfielder Datsakorn Thonglao pulled all the strings for Thailand, producing an exquisite through ball in the 35th minute only for Suree Sukha to blast over the bar from close range.
Australia's left side, particularly Zullo, was bombarded by the lively Thais while the Socceroos were restricted to only two efforts on goal for the half. Both fell to the head of in-form striker Josh Kennedy but neither attempt troubled Thailand goalkeeper Kosin Hathairattanakool.
The Thais continued to threaten early in the second half and tension was building until Holman intervened. Thailand's best chance to equalise fell to substitute Sarawut Masuk. He couldn't keep a close-range shot down.
Australia moved to 12 points in Group D, ensuring it will top the section. Midfielder Matt McKay will be ineligible to face Saudi Arabia after picking up a second-half yellow card.
"The conditions were difficult, the pitch was difficult and they were always going to put us under pressure - they're the second best team in the group. You're always trying to better yourself, but sometimes it's very difficult when you come to places like this and it's a very different environment, which makes it difficult to play the style of football you want to play. A lot of the time in these qualifiers it's about getting results and points on the board. We've done that with a game to spare.
It's an incredibly difficult program to live up to. You can't shy away from the fact it's tough going coming in to different climates, travelling great distances, yet time and again we've raised ourselves. Maybe it wasn't the best style being played, but we get the results. People will look back at this as a result rather than a performance. It was a never-say-die effort, people were throwing themselves around. It's inevitable when you're playing away from home that you'll be put under pressure. Overall I thought we did reasonably well."
-Mark Schwarzer
"It was gutsy, dogged and a great battle It was a great game to play in, against a team I feel should be coming through with us. That was the hardest test of all the teams we've played. We ground it out and in that sense it was a good performance, testing and tough. There were a few alarm bells ... the first goal was crucial."
-Lucas Neill
"It was a very hard-fought victory against a Thai team that really played very well. I'd told the boys what to expect and that we had to persevere. That's what we did, and finally we won this very difficult game."
"Well we missed chances too, that's part of the game. I don't think it's an indication of performance, it's the run of the game.
"Comparisons [to the loss against Oman] are never fair - I think we played good enough to win the game today. Thailand played very well in both games - they gave us a tough game in Australia and today they were even stronger. They have developed into a really strong team, well structured and progressing very well."
-Holger Osieck
All three sum the situation perfectly. It was a tough World Cup qualifier. As fans and media, we really must resist the urge to read so much into the performance of any individual match. Otherwise we risk a world of thousands of whining Craig Foster zombies. While Australia didn't play that great, credit goes to Thailand for making it so. The loss to Oman doesn't seem that bad anymore either, when they now look to be the team that will qualify in second. If results go as expected, Australia at home should beat Saudi Arabia and Oman at home should beat Thailand.
Australia win top of the group in style, Saudi Arabia slides further, Oman proves doubters wrong. That's the story of the final day in Group D qualifying. Australia's mix of A-League, Asian and a few European based players turned on a three goal blitz in four minutes to turn around a 1-2 deficit to win 4-2 on the night and send Saudi Arabia packing. After failing to qualify for the last World Cup in 20 years, the Saudis now find themselves out of the final phase after Oman beat Thailand - as they were required to do - to jump over the Saudis to finish second. Of course, if it wasn't for that four minutes by Australia, it would have been different, as the Saudis seemed it relative control.
The first half was an appalling for Australia. Few chances on goal and miserable possession. There was little control and players were in terrible positions, always receiving passes tightly marked and couldn't make simple passes. Mark Bresciano seemed too deep; often there was a gaping hole between Saudi defence and midfield that was rarely exploited. The lack of forward impetus was also infuriating in that the one-twos and flicks were often backwards or sideways, or a first touch would be taken rather than a quick flick on. Of course, no one was run back into the midfield space anyway. Finally, with Australia's first goal to level at 1-1, that value of a quick pass forward was realised after Bresciano played Alex Brosque through. It was all undone when Australia conceded in injury time to go 1-2 into the break.
The second half improved somewhat. Whether that was by design or the Saudi's beginning to get tense, unsure. Except to say that once Australia did equalise, that seemed to trigger a panic within the Saudi team, knowing they had to win with Oman leading in the concurrent match. Suddenly chances were being created and their resolute defence was now porous. A goal two minutes later by Brosque saw them quickly lose possession from the kick-off to concede a fourth. Did Australia play that well or just capitalised on the frailties of the Saudis? So it's difficult to appraise this "performance" other than it really showcased the high drama of the sport. At the end of first half it was the worst game I'd ever seen live by Australia; by the end it was the best. No other sport gives such a buzz. In that sense, who's to really complain. Part of watching sports is entertainment value. The team didn't let the spectators down and considering it was mostly a bits and pieces team and they had minimal training time of a few days, some leeway must be given for their early poor cohesion.
Bresciano's return was one of the key interests of the match. Personally, I questioned his Bresciano's inclusion, especially given that he chose to take a holiday from the team and no player should have right to pick and choose their times to play for Australia. You're either in or out. You don't bypass a year or two to concentrate on club then believe you can waltz back for a World Cup. Fair to him, it was the decision of coach Holger Osieck to recall him. It looked a waste early, making you wonder that a younger player would be more worthy of a run. Bresciano's first half was bad, rarely in good positions. So often a big gap between the Saudi defence and midfield. Thankfully he was one of the few players that knew the value of a quick pass ahead, to set up the first goal. No messing around. Second half, superb.
Maybe the situation now is Bresciano to be played more central, whereas earlier teams he was playing right. Not only was he losing impact, he became a liability when asked to defend. Osieck has an interesting dilemma, especially with Holman about, and then there's Tim Cahill. Personally I prefer Bresciano to Holman any day.
On some of the issues from the game...
As frequent readers would know, this website is almost on a crusade against wrong offside calls, that they are the greatest blight on the game. While we want to red-card players for "denying goal-scoring opportunities", where's the response to the referees that deny actual goals? The one against Lucas Neill that would have levelled the game at 2-2 was just an appalling decision, with it magnified even more because it would have been Neill's first international goal. No, the culture of the sport is just to sweep it under the carpet. Come on! We are denying actual goals. Neill's wasn't the only wrong call. Archie Thompson was waved late too. In such a low scoring sport it's even more critical these decisions are right. Even the stubborn AFL are finally testing video referrals for difficult scoring decisions. Instead of FIFA reforming the law and adding video challenges, they talk about widening goals. It's bizarre.
Time wasting. With the Saudis want to protect their lead, they were at it. The problem is not the team time-wasting, The problem is archaic rules and rubbish refereeing. How only two minutes was added in the first half defies belief. When Saudi's scored late, one minute of that was eaten by celebration as well. Every single stoppage including free kicks, subs, celebrations and injuries, the clock should stop. If that means reducing halves to 35min to allow all the extra time, do it. Also, if you call a doctor on the pitch, you then stay off for 5 minutes, at least to undergo a proper medical examination that should be incumbent on authorities simply for occupation, health and safety issues.
The crowd of just over 24,000 at AAMI Park was disappointing. It's a great stadium, and reasonable fixture, even if it wasn't the best Australian team. $55 for good tickets that I had in the top deck of the east stand and almost central. Maybe the fiddling with the kick-off time by FIFA caused some hesitation. Originally it was 7.30, FIFA wanted it 9.30 so it could run concurrent with Oman's game, the compromise was 8.30.
The new away-strips are much better than the previous ones. The only issue is that with the yellow stripe extending to the sleeves, it looks like every player is captain.
Congratulations to Oman for reaching the final phase. They had to win at home and did so 2-0 over Thailand. Let this be a lesson not to write off teams because of poor results in early group games. Oman lost two and drew one. It's about total points accumulated throughout the group, not those from the early games. You don't get bonus points for winning those. Just get the points.
AUSTRALIA 4 (Brosque 43, 75, Kewell 73, Emerton 76)
SAUDI ARABIA 2 (Al Dawsawi 10, Al Shamrani 45+2)
Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Jade North, Lucas Neill, Sasa Ognenovski, Matthew Spiranovic (David Carney 82), Mark Milligan, Brett Emerton, Mark Bresciano, James Troisi (Archie Thompson 63), Harry Kewell, Alex Brosque (Nick Carle 87)
Crowd: 24,214
Team GP W D L F A GD Pts AUSTRALIA 5 4 0 1 9 3 6 12 SAUDI ARABIA 5 1 3 1 4 3 1 6 OMAN 5 1 2 2 1 6 -5 5 THAILAND 5 1 1 3 4 6 -2 4
THREE goals in three amazing second-half minutes blasted the Socceroos into the final round of World Cup qualifying with a bullet.
Trailing Saudi Arabia 2-1 with less than 20 minutes remaining, goals from Harry Kewell, Alex Brosque and Brett Emerton fired Australia to a 4-2 win in front of 24,214 fans at AAMI Park.
That result, coupled with Oman's 2-0 win against Thailand in a game played simultaneously in Muscat, sent the Saudis crashing out of qualifying.
The visitors had looked like spoiling the Socceroos party when Salem Aldawsari opened the scoring in the 19th minute.
Brosque levelled proceedings in the 43rd minute, only for the Socceroos to concede a soft goal to Nassir Alshamrani on the stroke of halftime.
Looking a far more determined side in the second half, Kewell threatened to again pull his side level on several occasions, only to shot agonisingly wide or high three times in 10 minutes.
The home team appeared to have the equaliser when Lucas Neill headed past Saudi goalkeeper Waleed Ali in the 63rd minute, only for the captain to be denied his first goal in 79 national team appearances by a poor offside call.
It mattered little as the home side put three past the shell-shocked visitors in as many minutes to effectively end the game as a contest.
Kewell's goal in the 73rd minute was reward for what had to be considered a man-of-the-match performance. His dash and creativity on the left was superb to watch all night and he could have had a hat-trick if he had made the most of his chances.
He finally found the back of the net after Melbourne Victory teammate Archie Thompson played Brosque in behind the defence.
Once in the box, Brosque cut the ball inside - when he could have been forgiven for shooting himself - and Kewell did the rest.
The fans had barely stopped celebrating when the Socceroos took an unlikely lead in the 75th minute via Brosque.
Having scored his first after being the recipient of a piercing Mark Bresciano ball through the heart of the Saudi defence, his second was the result of equally sublime skill from Emerton.
Emerton kept the ball at his feet near the by-line as a Saudi defender slid in to tackle, before he stepped inside and played in a beautiful cross to an unmarked Brosque at the top of the six-yard box.
As if two quick goals wasn't enough, the Socceroos had a third in the 76th minute after another piece of Bresciano magic.
Brosque and Kewell worked hard in the centre of the park to harry a Saudi midfielder in to turning the ball over. Bresciano and Thompson then played a neat one-two before Bresciano, playing his first game in the green and gold since the 2010 World Cup, hit a 25m pass that a lunging Emerton got on to at the edge of the box.
The goal was somewhat fortuitous - the ball rebounded in to the net off Emerton's shin after one of the three Saudi defenders present tried to clear - and was reward for two of Australia's best performed players on the night.
The first half started and ended with a flurry of chances - and had plenty in between as well.
A Jade North handball in the penalty box was missed by Korean referee Kim Dong Jin in the first minute and a Kewell goal disallowed barely 120 seconds later after he was adjudged offside at the far post as Emerton crossed in from the right.
As the rain started tumbling soon after kick-off, news floated through that Oman had gone 1-0 up against Thailand early on.
Australia's captain, Lucas Neill...
"It wasn't the best of first-half performances, we knew the Saudis would come at us, but it was a great response and a good talk at half-time and passing the ball around quickly in the second half opened them up a little bit.
"It's March 9 now and then we can look ahead and we can really focus in on what we have to do to get to Brazil, the games are going to get tougher than this and we're going to have to be at our best."
Japan, Iraq, Oman and Jordan. Been there, done that. These are Australia's Group B opponents for the final group phase of World Cup qualifying. Australia faced Iraq the last campaign, the Asian Cup and Olympic qualifiers. Japan was the last campaign and Asian Cup. Oman has been Asian Cup qualifiers and the just completed group phase of this World Cup campaign.
In Group A it's Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Lebanon. It would have been especially nice to get Iran since Australia has not played them since the ill-fated "Iran Game" of 1997. It seems it will never happen. Certainly not with any players that featured almost 15 years ago. Mehdi Mahdavikia is one, who also participated in the televised draw.
The other key opponent would be Korea. Australia's hopes there were derailed before the draw even took place after the AFC decided in their wisdom to use FIFA's dopey and notoriously dubious rankings to seed the teams. With rankings released just this week, it saw Korea leapfrog Japan into second spot with Australia still in first. Why the AFC doesn't use its own tournament like the Asian Cup to seed the teams is a mystery. First, it would be fairer than FIFA's rankings that are both flawed and based worldwide opposition, some of it from flippant friendlies; second, it gives the Asian Cup extra meaning and validates the winner as the number one Asian team. The fact that Japan, the Asian Cup winner, is accepted as the third best Asian team for a competition soley among Asian teams is preposterous.
Group A was actually lining up nicely as the final pot was reached with either Australia or Korea to be assigned. It proved Korea. Also there is Uzbekistan, who are a much more diverse and interesting opponent than an extra Arab team. Lebanon would be something different too, even if the team is the nominal lightweight. The only new team Australia will face is Jordan. They proved a highly worthwhile outfit at the last Asian Cup and cruised through the last group phase, so that's at least some interest and definite challenge. Of course, while it would nice to take on Korea, one bonus of getting Japan again is that this time Australia plays them early in the schedule, rather than the dead rather than proved to be in the final game in Melbourne in 2009. Oman were the only team to beat Australia in the prior group phase, so possibly some form of revenge could be involved in that first match.
Coach Holger Osieck was pleased with the draw, especially the logistics of it. With a friendly in Denmark a few days prior, the team heads to Oman and then to Australia for Japan. Iraq is still forced to play in neutral venues like highly receptive places Qatar and the UAE. The away game in Japan will also be fuss free for travelling and things like visas and training grounds.
The top two teams from each group qualify for the World Cup, while the two third-placed sides play-off for the right to take on South America's fifth best team.
In an interesting quirk of the draw, Japan were placed in position 5 of their group rather than their seeded second position so to avoid a clash with the Confederations Cup in late June 2013 for which they will represent Asia. That is one of their byes - the final match day of this qualifying phase.
A: South Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Lebanon.
B: Australia, Japan, Iraq, Jordan, Oman.
Sun, 3 June 2012 Jordan v Iraq, Japan v Oman, Australia bye
Fri, 8 June 2012 Oman v Australia, Japan v Jordan, Iraq bye
Tue, 12 June 2012 Australia v Japan, Iraq v Oman, Jordan bye
Tue, 11 Sept 2012 Japan v Iraq, Jordan v Australia, Oman bye
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 Oman v Jordan, Iraq v Australia, Japan bye
Wed, 14 Nov 2012 Iraq v Jordan, Oman v Japan, Australia bye
Tue, 26 March 2013 Australia v Oman, Jordan v Japan, Iraq bye
Tue, 4 June 2013 Japan v Australia, Oman v Iraq, Jordan bye
Tue, 11 June 2013 Iraq v Japan, Australia v Jordan, Oman bye
Tue, 18 June 2013 Jordan v Oman, Australia v Iraq, Japan bye
"It's going to be a tough group, particularly the road games.
"Logistically they are easy places to access, and you don't have to worry too much about visa issues and so on," Osieck said.
"We knew well before the draw that we'd have to play one Middle East team, so I agreed to play in Denmark, have one weekend in Europe and then fly down to the Middle East, which is only six hours.
"Then we have to get back from Jordan to Brisbane pretty quickly.
"That's probably the major logistical issue we have to deal with. Other than that, I think it's OK.
"We take it as it comes. We play any team - if we want to qualify, we have to beat them anyway. So what, why should we discuss a lot.
"Now we know who we face and what we've got to do, so we'll start from there."