Australia left it late to beat Iraq 1-0 and become the second country to qualify for the 2014 World Cup finals in front of 80,000 rain-soaked fans at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.
Substitute striker Josh Kennedy headed the ball home seven minutes from time to give the Socceroos the win they needed to secure second place in Asian qualifying Group B and the ticket to Brazil that goes with it.
Iraq's hopes of qualifying were ended by last week's defeat at the hands of group winners Japan and Australia's victory also ended the slim hopes of Oman and Jordan, who meet later on Tuesday, of a direct passage to the World Cup.
The Australians, frustrated for much of the evening, will now make their third successive trip to soccer's showpiece tournament and a fourth in total after 1974, 2006 and 2010.
After confirming a runners-up spot, they will join group winners Japan in Brazil. It leaves closest rivals Jordan and Oman scraping for a play-off place in the Asia section of the the qualifying round.
Iran won 1-0 at South Korea on Tuesday in a result that secured both teams a spot at next year’s World Cup, but the hosts only just scraped through.
The result meant Iran finished top of Group A in the final stage of Asian qualifying, while South Korea finished second, level on points with Uzbekistan but holding second place by virtue of goal difference.
The winning goal came in the 60th minute. Kim Young-gwon failed to clear a speculative ball forward and Reza Ghoochannejad robbed him of possession, sprinted clear and sent a well-placed curling left-foot shot beyond the goalkeeper.
South Korea, not wanting to put its fate in the hands of the simultaneous match in Uzbekistan, pressed forward strongly for the remainder of the game but could not equalize.
In the qualifying for Asia, the top two teams in each final group (four teams total) are automatically into the World Cup and the two third place teams face off against each other in a two-legged play-off. That pair of games will involve Uzbekistan and the winner of Oman v. Jordan, set to be played in September. The winner of that play-off goes on to face the fifth place team in CONMEBOL qualifying. At the time of writing, Uruguay and Venezuela are level on points.
After confirming a runners-up spot, they will join group winners Japan in Brazil. It leaves closest rivals Jordan and Oman scraping for a play-off place in the Asia section of the the qualifying round.
Iran won 1-0 at South Korea on Tuesday in a result that secured both teams a spot at next year’s World Cup, but the hosts only just scraped through.
The result meant Iran finished top of Group A in the final stage of Asian qualifying, while South Korea finished second, level on points with Uzbekistan but holding second place by virtue of goal difference.
The winning goal came in the 60th minute. Kim Young-gwon failed to clear a speculative ball forward and Reza Ghoochannejad robbed him of possession, sprinted clear and sent a well-placed curling left-foot shot beyond the goalkeeper.
South Korea, not wanting to put its fate in the hands of the simultaneous match in Uzbekistan, pressed forward strongly for the remainder of the game but could not equalize.
In the qualifying for Asia, the top two teams in each final group (four teams total) are automatically into the World Cup and the two third place teams face off against each other in a two-legged play-off. That pair of games will involve Uzbekistan and the winner of Oman v. Jordan, set to be played in September. The winner of that play-off goes on to face the fifth place team in CONMEBOL qualifying. At the time of writing, Uruguay and Venezuela are level on points.
i feel Asia is the easiest to qualify from
ReplyDeleteCongrats u'all
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