Next Round Beckons For Socceroos

The Age

Monday June 16, 2008

Michael Lynch, Doha, Qatar

RELIEF, and no small sense of pride, was etched on the faces of the Socceroos as they left the Al Sadd Stadium to briefly return to their Doha hotel on Saturday night before embarking on a long-haul flight to Australia that will bring them to Sydney this morning.

This campaign, their first in Asian World Cup qualifying, has been a learning experience for all concerned - players, coaches and support staff - but with the 3-1 victory in Qatar, they can all be said to have come through with flying colours. They qualify for the final phase of the Asian campaign with a game to spare and take on China, which was eliminated yesterday, in Sydney next weekend in what should be a celebration of the Socceroos' progress.

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who made several timely saves as Qatar pressed for a first-half equaliser, said the performances - an unlucky loss against Iraq and a win over Qatar - showed how far the team had come.

"The experiences like last year at the Asian Cup have helped. It's not just the players, it's everyone around the team off the field, they have identified that there are a lot of issues for us when we travel to these places. It's obvious that the weather, conditions and heat is extreme but we have been able to prepare for it very well and it's shown by the results," Schwarzer said.

The goalkeeper said he was disappointed that he will now miss the China game in his home town. He picked up a yellow card in the second half when the referee deemed him to be time-wasting by removing a plastic bag from the penalty area. He picked up his first yellow card of the series in Kunming in late March when he gave away a penalty - which he saved.

"There was a big plastic bag sitting in the middle of the goal and I asked the referee if I could move it and he said 'Yes', and as I came back and placed the ball, he gave me a yellow card. You'll have to ask him about that. I don't know, it's a strange one, because I am very disappointed because I really wanted to play against China."

Two-goal hero Brett Emerton was delighted with his efforts, and the chance to play further forward. Socceroo coach Pim Verbeek dropped Luke Wilkshire to right-back and pushed Emerton into the wide right midfield berth, where his pace, power and relentless running made him a handful for Qatar all night.

His first came when Harry Kewell - in a reprise of his miskick that allowed Mark Bresciano to score the crucial World Cup qualifying goal against Uruguay in November 2005 - had a swing and a miss at Bresciano's cross.

"Harry dummied it - he told me to say that, if I miss it, I would have kicked myself. The second goal, Brett Holman played a great little ball over the top, good first touch and finished it off. It was a very important goal for us, it pretty much killed the game off and allowed us to control the game," Emerton said.

"I enjoy getting forward. I have made no secret of that in the past. I enjoyed the opportunity to do it tonight and who knows, might get the opportunity to do it again. They are a difficult team to play against, but we scored the goals at important times."

A laughing Kewell could not keep up the pretence that he had dummied for Emerton. "It's one of those things, but again good backing up by Brett. If the striker misses it, that's where you need your wingers to come in and finish off."

Of his own goal, he said: "I think if you look at it, the defender misread it. He was only small and it bounced over his head, which was fortunate enough for me that it peeled off the back and it kind of sat up there and they really gave me a lot of time to pick my spot. When they give you time like that, you know you have to finish."

RESULT

AUSTRALIA 3 (Emerton 16 min, 55, Kewell 74) QATAR 1 (Ibrahim 89)

- Australia's next match: v China, in Sydney, on Sunday.

- Australia has sealed a spot in the final 10 Asian teams for the last World Cup qualifying stage, starting in September.

It will play eight matches from September until June 2009 - four of which will be in Australia.

- Asia has four automatic berths - the top two from each group of five progressing - in the finals in South Africa in 2010. The fifth-placed side plays off against a team from Oceania.

© 2008 The Age

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