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The 10-man Socceroos have scored a stunning 2-1 Group B qualifier victory over Oman on Sunday to put them in pole position to make the Asian Cup finals in 2011.
Australia were forced to play one man short for 75 minutes after losing defender Rhys Williams to a red card, as well as fight back from a goal down.
But a first-half goal to Luke Wilkshire and a late winner to Brett Emerton with eight minutes left secured the Socceroos an unlikely victory to put them top of the group with two matches remaining.
The top two teams in the group qualify for the tournament finals in Qatar.
The Socceroos’ hopes looked grim when Williams was marched for a clumsy challenge on Oman striker Emad Al Hosni just 15 minutes into the match.
The young Middlesbrough defender, a surprise inclusion at right-back, clattered into Al Hosni’s back to concede a penalty and drew a red card from Chinese referee Sun Baojie because he was the last man in defence.
Khalifa Ayil netted from the spot, but only after goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer had saved the first attempt and forced the Omani to bang in the rebound.
But Wilkshire netted an equaliser with two minutes left in the second half, bundling in a Mark Bresciano cross.
The Socceroos then had to survive a second half filled with chances for Oman to win the match — a result which would have severely dented the Socceroos’ hopes of making the Asian Cup finals.
Schwarzer twice made important close-range saves from Al Hosni and Ismail Al Ajmi, Wilkshire cleared an Al Hosni header off the line, and Craig Moore blocked a Hashim Saleh shot.
Then the Socceroos made the Omanis pay for their goalmouth butchery with an unlikely winner.
Substitute David Carney got free down the left and crossed for Emerton to thunder home a half-volley to secure Australia all three points.
The match ended amid ill tempers and a firework being thrown from the crowd narrowly missing Carney after he and Oman defender Mohammed Al Balushi were involved in a sideline skirmish.
The Socceroos now sit atop Group B with seven points, three clear of Oman.
Australia’s next match is against Kuwait in Kuwait City on January 6.
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