Olyroos aim to break goal drought

Breaking a goal drought is the number one priority for an Olyroo team desperate to beat table-topping Uzbekistan in a home match which could make or break their campaign to reach London next year.

After two goalless draws, at home to the United Arab Emirates and away against Iraq last Tuesday, the Aussies know their best chance of qualifying could come at Sydney’s Parramatta Stadium on Sunday.

Victory would leap-frog them over the Uzbekis at the top of their group.

Anything less might leave them too much to do when they travel to Uzbekistan in February.

But scoring goals has proved no easy task for anyone so far – of the four teams, only Uzbekistan has managed it in six hours of football.

“We are certainly creating a lot of chances, but we’re just not putting them away,” said coach Aurelio Vidmar.

“We had four or five good ones against Iraq. I would say three were sitters, not half chances. So I’m pleased we’re getting there to the right points, and it was a massive improvement from the UAE game.”

Vidmar, who is expected to retain faith with the players who have served him so far, said a win would put the Olyroos in a healthy position.

“We are desperate for those three points,” he said.

“I don’t want to think about any other outcomes.”

Striker Jason Hoffman agreed.

“If we don’t win, I suppose we will start to panic a little bit and we’ll need to definitely win the next three games if we want automatic qualification,” said the Melbourne Heart forward.

He blamed lack of composure for Australia’s problems in front of goal, saying: “We did break Iraq down, we did get behind them but you’ve got to take your chances.”

The suspension of defender Aziz Behich, who picked up a second yellow card against Iraq last Tuesday, has forced Vidmar to call Central Coast Mariner Sam Gallagher into his squad.

Sunday’s match marks the halfway point of the qualifying round.

The group winner advances automatically to the 2012 Olympics, with the runner-up getting a second chance in further play-offs next year.

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