A hat-trick from Jason Hoffman has seen Australia advance to the next phase of Olympic qualification with an emphatic 4-0 win over Yemen in Newcastle on Thursday night.
Newcastle-born Hoffman bagged a first-half brace with two superb headers, the first coming after a Rocco Visconte free kick on 18 minutes.
Aaron Mooy was the provider for Hoffman’s second goal on the half hour, chipping Yemen’s goalkeeper Shukri Abdullah for Hoffman to head home.
Hoffman, having only scored twice in the A-League, scored again in the second half to take his Olyroo tally to five after twice finding the back of the net in Gosford.
The Olyroos claimed the two-legged tie 7-0 on aggregate after beating Yemen 3-0 at Gosford’s Bluetongue Stadium on Sunday in the first leg.
“The objective was to get to the next stage so we’re pleased with that,” said Olyroos coach Aurelio Vidmar.
“Once the first goal came in it was really all over, we controlled the game again, but we could have had a few more.”
Vidmar made two changes to his starting side from Sunday’s match, bringing in midfielder Mooy for Isaka Cernak and shot-stopper Dean Bouzanis for Andrew Redmayne.
Mooy, who has played 14 times in the Scottish Premier League for St Mirren, extended Australia’s advantage to 4-0 in the 68th minute with a left-foot drive from halftime substitute Cernak’s cross.
The Olyroos dominated the game and could have had at least another two goals before the break with Marko Jesic twice spraying his shot wide at the near post.
Australia, South Korea and Japan have been seeded into the next round and will head up the three groups of four to play a home-and-away series.
The winners of each group will head to London for the 2012 Olympics while the second-placed teams get another chance through a playoff system.
Player availability is likely to be a key challenge for Australia in the next round.
“We are in a situation where they are all non FIFA dates,” said Vidmar.
“So the majority of the players will be A-League (players) because they can be released but the boys playing overseas, that’s going to be touch and go.”
PeterK
Guest
Yes, TV coverage would be great! I'm always amazed at how hard it is to find out results!
Kasey
Guest
I hope the next lot of matches get spread around the country. The olyroos are perfect for games in Adelaide(Hindmarsh), Perth(nib) and even Canberra(Bruce) I'd pay $15 to go and watch them at Hindmarsh, or thinking outside the (18yard) box... the FFA could make tickets $5 with production of a current HAL membership card, a great way to engage the football family and give the lads the support they deserve as they chase the Olympic dream. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
brendo51
Guest
Excellent well done boys, draw for the group stage is on July 7th. Pots I think will look like Pot A South Korea Australia Japan Pot B Iraq Bahrain Qatar Pot C Saudi Arabia Syria Uzbekistan Pot D Malaysia Oman UAE I think the best group for us would be Australia Qatar Syria Malaysia Probably the worst group we could get would be (if I have the pots right) Australia Iraq Saudi Arabia UAE let hope the next lot of matches will get some TV coverage