The Socceroos’ hopes of gaining direct entry into the World Cup have been dealt a blow following a dramatic 2-2 draw with Oman.
The draw will most probably force Graham Arnold’s men to qualify via intercontinental play-off route.
Australia got off to a strong start, going up 1-0 through a first-half Jamie Maclaren penalty but Oman pulled one back via an Abdullah Fawaz screamer from long distance nine minutes at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat.
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Aaron Mooy put the Socceroos in front again with 11 minutes left in the match, but a penalty in the dying moments gave one away to Oman.
Fran Karacic fouled Muhsen Al-Ghassani in the box as Fawaz converted to score his second goal and cap off a horror few days for Australian football, following the Matildas’ early elimination from the Asian Cup at the hands of South Korea in the quarter-finals.
Making matters worse for the Socceroos, Oman was missing seven regulars due to COVID-19 cases and were playing in front of an empty stadium due to COVID measures. The result means the Socceroos cannot finish any lower than third in Group B. The Aussies can still finish in the top two but they’ll need to beat Japan at home and Saudi Arabia (away) in their final two matches.
History is against the Socceroos, having only beaten Japan once in 11 meetings since the 2006 World Cup. They’ve only ever beaten Saudi Arabia on foreign soil once in team history.
“The players are dead silent,” Arnold said post-match.
“I just said to them, I’m a little bit disappointed with the sloppiness at times and the physical side of things, but overall we’ve just got to get on with it – pick yourselves up, get back to your clubs, work hard, get healthy and we look forward to the Japan game.
“I’ve still got a load of belief in the boys. At the end of the day, everything is still in our own hands. We have to win both games, and beating Japan and Saudi Arabia away, our goal difference is like an extra point.”
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If the Socceroos finish third, that will set up a sudden-death clash with Group A’s third team – currently the United Arab Emirates – to be played on neutral territory in May or June.
The winner of that will then take on the fifth-best team from South America in a one-game playoff, likely to be either Uruguay, Peru, Colombia or Chile.
“I’m very disappointed,” captain Mat Ryan said.
“We came here, we prepared well, and at the end of the day it’s not good enough to [not] take something away from the game.
“It’s not the first time it’s happened this campaign. We’ve got to learn from it, there’s still possibilities, and we’ll keep giving everything we’ve got. When you face a bit of hardship, it’s all about how you respond. That’s got to be the focus now.”
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