Sydney: Competing in only their third AFC Asian Cup, Australia are now one step away from claiming Asia’s biggest prize on home soil. Join the-afc.com as we take a look at the Socceroos’ path to the final and their potentially titanic struggle with Korea Republic.
GROUP A: AUSTRALIA 4-1 KUWAIT
Hosts Australia went into the 2015 AFC Asian Cup carrying the hopes of a nation but the burden of expectations didn’t weigh them down as Ange Postecoglou’s side played with a vigour that justified their status as one of the tournament favourites, running out comfortable 4-1 winners over Kuwait, despite Hussain Fadhel threatening to rain on their parade in an overcast and often drizzly Melbourne with the opening goal.
Conceding in the eighth minute did nothing to dent the Socceroos’ confidence and may even have caused them to up their tempo as first-half goals Tim Cahill (33rd) and Samsung Player of the Match Massimo Luongo (45th) as well as a 62nd minute penalty from skipper Mile Jedinak and James Troisi’s strike in second-half stoppage-time sealed an impressive opening win.
GROUP A: AUSTRALIA 4-0 OMAN
With Mile Jedinak out injured, veteran Tim Cahill took over the captain’s armband to lead a side that showed three changes to the starting 11 as Postecoglou utilised has attacking options against an Oman outfit that had made Korea Republic work hard for their narrow 1-0 victory in their Group A curtain raiser.
And the speed of the hosts proved too much for Paul Le Guen’s side as the 50,000 fans in Stadium Australia in Sydney were treated to another scintillating show from the Socceroos with goals from Matt McKay, Robbie Kruse, Mark Milligan and Tomi Juric sealing Australia’s place in the quarter-finals.
GROUP A: AUSTRALIA 0-1 KOREA REPUBLIC
Both Australia and Korea Republic had secured their place in the last eight, but the clash between the two 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers was far from a dead rubber with the thinking at the time being that a top of the table finish would, in theory, offer an easier route to the final with the likelihood of avoiding defending champions Japan until the January 31 finale.
For the third successive match Postecoglou varied his attacking line up but this time the changes didn’t have the desired effect as a well-organised Korean side proved a much sterner test than both Kuwait and Oman with Lee Jeong-hyeop’s 33rd minute winner seeing the Socceroos have to settle for second in the Group A standings.
QUARTER-FINAL: AUSTRALIA 2-0 CHINA
Australia’s runners-up finish in the Group A table saw them come up against the Group B winners, who came in the unexpected shape of a resurgent China side that had topped the table ahead of Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and DPR Korea with a 100% record.
Alain Perrin’s side had the better of the early exchanges in the first half but were made to pay for their profligacy when Australia’s leading goal scorer Tim Cahill extended his record to 39 with an audacious bicycle kick four minutes after the interval and then a trademark header in the 68th minute as the Socceroos emerged as the only side to win their quarter-final without the need for extra-time or penalties.
SEMI-FINAL: AUSTRALIA 2-0 UAE
Having impressed in the Group Stage and booked their place in the final four with a shock elimination of defending champions Japan, Australia were not going to take the UAE lightly but any nerves on the pitch or in the stands at Newcastle Stadium were settled after Trent Sainsbury opened the scoring in the third minute with his first international goal.
Fellow defender Jason Davidson also opened his national team scoring account 11 minutes later to become the 10th player in Postecoglou’s squad to get their name on the score sheet and while the UAE occasionally showed their attacking potential the Socceroos saw out the remainder of the match quite comfortably to reach the AFC Asian Cup final for the second time after finishing runners-up in 2011.
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