- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
A Doha double bill produced defeat for Qatar and a crucial win for Australia in the fight to seal tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Asian Zone qualifying.
At the Grand Hamad stadium on Tuesday night, Australia moved to second in Group B of the final round of Asian qualifying with a 2-1 win over Iraq.
The Socceroos, who were stunned 2-1 by Jordan recently, desperately needed a win to move up the table to increase their chances of appearing at their third successive World Cup.
Tied at two points each with Iraq coming into Tuesday’s tie they now have five points to go level with Oman, who defeated Jordan 2-1 earlier in Muscat.
Iraq are now at the bottom of the table with two losses and two draws. Japan, beaten 4-0 in a friendly against Brazil in Poland, lead the group with 10 points from their four matches.
Australia completely dominated the second half, even though it was Iraq who scored first against the run of play.
“I’m really happy with the result as we managed to make a good comeback and got three points which will put us back into contention,” Socceroos coach Holger Osieck said.
“The result proved that we can make it as the win against Iraq was important.
“We were lucky even though it only came in the closing minutes. We managed to score from the chances that we had unlike the last match against Jordan where we failed to score from the chances that we created and we lost the match.”
Earlier, Qatar lost a golden opportunity to move closer to the finals in Brazil after a 1-0 Group A defeat to Uzbekistan at Doha’s Jassim bin Hamad stadium.
Sanjar Tursunov produced the match winner in the 13th minute.
The 25-year-old turned well and smashed a volley into the net from an Akmal Shorakhmedov cross.
“I’m proud of the players and the spirit that they have shown, but I’m very disappointed with the defeat,” said Qatar coach Paulo Autuori.
“Now we must forget this defeat and carry on with our campaign as we still have a chance.
Iran moved into second in Group A, level with South Korea on seven points, after Javed Nekonam’s 76th minute goal earned the hosts a 1-0 win over the Koreans in Tehran.
Uzbekistan climbed into third on five points with Qatar slipping to fourth on four points, above Lebanon on goal difference.
2014 World Cup Standings – Group B – Final Round of Asian qualifying after this morning’s game:
| Group B | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|
1
|
Japan | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
|
2
|
Australia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
|
3
|
Oman | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -2 | 5 |
|
4
|
Jordan | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 4 |
|
5
|
Iraq | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 2 |
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.