Australia move into the intercontinental decider for the penultimate World Cup ticket. The Socceroos defeated the United Arab Emirates 2-1 thanks to a late Hrustic goal.
After the conclusion of the European World Cup qualifiers, the final places for the finals are up for grabs in Qatar. While participation in this is almost commonplace for the Australians (represented at every World Cup since 2006), it should remain a big dream for the United Arab Emirates: Only in 1990 did the country book a ticket to the World Cup.
The contrast was also reflected in the game from the start. The Australians, with Frankfurt’s Hrustic and St. Paul’s Irvine in the starting eleven, immediately took control of the game – also because the UAE retreated deep into their own half
The Socceroos struggled to deal with the passionate Emirates and failed to create a single goal-scoring opportunity in the first half. It was a different story on the other side: The United Arab Emirates kept on creating pinpricks through Harib Abdalla Suhail – but the left winger missed the lead on one of these counterattacks (36th). For this reason, the game went into the dressing rooms goalless.
Irvine takes centre stage after the break
The game changed little after the restart. However, the Australians proved to be efficient and took their first chance to take the lead: Irvine pushed the ball into the net from a few metres (53rd). Whoever thought that the game would now take its expected course was wrong. The UAE struck back in the form of Caio Canedo (57th) after an air pocket by Irvine.
The St. Paulian was to take centre stage again in the following minutes. After his cross, Goodwin just missed the target (62). After that, the game flattened out again, until Joker Mclaren failed to score after Hrustic’s fine preparation by Khalid Eisa (79th).
Hrustic scores the decider
Although the Australians did not take any more risks in the final phase, Hrustic scored the decider. After a deflected corner kick, the Frankfurt player scored with a deflected volley to make it 2:1 (84th).
While the United Arab Emirates’ dream of a first World Cup appearance since 1990 has been shattered, the Socceroos are just one win away from the World Cup finals: on 13 June they will play against Peru for the penultimate ticket.