Australia will miss the Olympic football tournament for the first time since 1984 after their blunt attack flopped again in a 1-0 loss to United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi.
The Olyroos needed a win on Thursday morning (AEDT) to at least stay in the hunt for the playoffs involving the three second-placed teams in the Asian qualifying groups.
Once again, Australia were toothless in attack and have the ignominious distinction of failing to score a goal after five group games.
The loss left Australia bottom of their four-team group, trailing second placed Uzbekistan by five points with one game to play against Iraq in Gosford on March 14.
A win would lift them off the bottom and into third above Iraq, who upset previously unbeaten Uzbekistan 2-1 in the other penultimate round game.
The Olyroos created some decent chances, especially in the first half before UAE scored the only goal of the game.
Mate Dugandzic clipped the crossbar and Aaron Mooy and captain Oliver Bozanic each had a shot saved.
The only goal came midway through the first half, when goalkeeper Matthew Ryan was beaten at his near post by a speculative shot from near the byline following a short corner routine.
Moments earlier Ryan had pulled off two good saves from a free kick and follow-up effort.
Unbeaten UAE, who now lead the group by three points, went close a couple of times just before the hour mark.
The home team were content to protect their lead in the final quarter and just launched the occasional attack.
Australia had a decent share of possession in the second half, but created few chances due to consistently poor delivery into the area from both set pieces and open play.
Mooy blazed high and wide with just over 10 minutes to go, as the Olyroos’ painful goal drought continued.
PeterK
Guest
I think we all need to be careful to avoid arrogance here -- we have no God-given right to win any game, nor to go to the Olympic Games, nor to go to any World Cup! I suspect that somehow we needed to have some sort of pause in the HAL for these matches, though I'm not too sure how far ahead FFA knew of the dates for the matches.
Aware
Guest
Reform the game from the grass roots up. Make it the number one priority to score goals, then look at defence as a secondary consideration. This is the only long-term hope for this game in Australia.
M-Rod
Guest
Good... this means a saving in my AOC tax dollars by not having to send these easybeats to the London Olympics.
Lucan
What are Vidmar's credentials? One ACL final? What's his record of coaching and developing youth? This is a completely different kettle of fish to coaching senior football. Our underage teams used to be attacking, fearless, and play without hesitation. We've seen this before, when Ange was given the youth teams on the back of NSL coaching success. Great boss for mature players (as seen with Roar), but a failure with the Youth national teams. FFA's insistance on ignoring history is damning them to repeat it.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
I absolutely agree with Johnno and RealFootball about sacking Vidmar-the whole campaign has been a schemozzle from start to finish and I haven't heard any of the media raise any critical questions about his performance/competence in all this . Blind Freddy could see that the Olyroos were performing poorly and needed something drastic to realign and refine their attitude and performance from early on rather than bemoan poor refereeing decisions and bad timing .What I don't agree with is Mr Palmer trying to dictate the future of the game -no one can be allowed to be bigger than the game even billionaires-like the owner of the Glory said -when the club owners of the NSL were allowed to take over the game in Australia -it spelled the end of the NSL and public/media confidence in a flawed/corrupt/cultural warring minefield that made it a joke to anyone who wanted to waste their time watching.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Not sure Holger agrees with this at the moment...
Johnno
Guest
This makes cliive palmer and the case for private owners ot have more say more powerful. they have th money to pump into the game. And sack Vidmar too.
nordster
Guest
play them individually amongst a more experienced squad they do better as the A-League is starting to show. Among themselves they are struggling yes. At this age group surely they are better as part of the wider senior NT group. Certainly will learn more and be able to step up quicker than just playing among that age group at international level.
Aware
Guest
It's an indictment on the game, the executive that runs the game and the administrators at all clubs. An absolute, inexcusible disgrace to miss Olympic selection for the first time since 1984, especially given the dubious quality of the opposition. The same old problem- an inability to score goals. Heads should roll.
Griffo
Roar Guru
No doubt the excuses of non-FIFA dates and first-team player availability may come to the fore but if the Olyroos were seen as an important cog in the development of the generation on the cusp of Socceroos selection, then how many of this squad will go on to become regulars in the senior team? Given we have yet to score a goal in this round of qualifying, not many of the forwards you would expect. I think there are some players glad to not have this campaign added to their CV while they get some game time overseas or in the A-League. As for CVs, Vidmar's would have taken a dent in being the first Olyroo coach to not qualify for the Olympics in a generation. Being groomed as a future Socceroo coach, Vidmars next coaching assignment will be interesting to watch.
Roarchild
Guest
We wasted a lot of money on this and all it did was take players away from their A league clubs. We didn't really select our best team and yet we spent heaps of money on camps. I can't tell if we were taking it seriously or not. The only positive was that we got to see Goodwin play in the Melbourne derby.
nordster
Guest
good question, don't know about the qualifiers and preparation ... maybe the Games themselves though? Either way i'm looking at it purely thru the football goggles, not so much the accountants specs.
Realfootball
Guest
As a would-be Emperor, Vidmar has been shown to unequivocally have no clothes. This disgraceful campaign is all about his coaching. Dull, negative, tactically witless, and peppered with inexplicable squad and team selections. Frankly, Vidmar coaches uncannily like Verbeek. And that, most certainly, is not a compliment.
B
Guest
Would this '...nice trip away or life experience...' be paid for by the Australian Olympic Committee ?
Sky Blue Ram
Guest
Does that mean they won't be able to use that ridiculous nickname now?
nordster
Guest
apologies in advance but ... i'm glad personally it was a distraction in the first place for these guys who are first choice with their clubs to be taking part in qualifying for weeks at a time during the league season ... and a risk given how few spots there are on offer. Australia needs to pick and choose which junior levels are a priority based on football reasons. Not on giving a nice trip away or life experience of going to a Games, nor for getting one over on other sports who don't get to contest it at all. Mat Ryan ... perfect example of someone now being blooded in the senior NT setup, which is where all of our best players of that calibre should be aiming for.