Socceroos down Oman

Australia 3 Oman 0

Roy Hay

Australia took on Oman in the first leg of back-to-back matches in qualification for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 at ANZ stadium in Sydney on Tuesday 11^th October.

Coming into the match the Socceroos had full six points from two games, while Oman had one.

Adam Federici replaced Mark Schwarzer in goal and the central defensive pairing of Lucas Neill and Matthew Spiranovic was flanked by Rhys Williams and Michael Zullo.

Mile Jedinak, Carl Valeri, Matt McKay and Luke Wilkshire patrolled the midfield with Brett Holman supporting Josh Kennedy in attack.

For the Omanis, Ali-Al-Habsi , the Wigan keeper, was between the sticks.

Spiranovic started shakily being caught on the break and then miskicking a clearance but then he settled to play a composed game combining with Neill to deal with the Omani counter-attacks.

Australia gradually started to get its passing game going and it took the lead in the eighth minute when Rhys Williams sent over a deep cross from the right which found Matt McKay clear on the left.

The Glasgow Rangers midfielder, formerly with Brisbane Roar, controlled the ball and sent it through the gap between the Omani defenders and keeper Al-Absi.

At the far post Brett Holman slid in to score just ahead of Luke Wilkshire.

That goal settled the Socceroos and they kept finding an amazing amount of space down the right with Williams, Wilkshire and Holman at the fulcrum of numerous attacks.

It took Oman twenty five minutes to test Federici with a direct shot from Amad Al Hosni.

Holman was the like the energizer bunny as he ran everywhere to create space for himself, though his shooting was wayward on a couple of occasions when he did break through.

Spiranovic showed that he had come to terms with the game in the 40th minute as he won the ball at the back and beat a man and had to be brought down by a second as he threatened to break through.

Kennedy caught his man in a late tackle but it initially was not clear whether he or Al Hosni was booked after the incident as the latter accosted the referee.

McKay finished the first half with a shot which narrowly cleared the cross bar as the first half came to an end.

When Australia got a free kick on the right Wilkshire’s cross was headed over by Spiranovic.

Holman miscued another good chance after 56 minutes coming at the end of a good passing move.

A teasing Willams cross was left alone by both defenders and Kennedy and it slide wide of the far post in 58 minutes.

Holan then combined with McKay and beat his man but shot narrowly wide in 61 minutes.

A minute later Australia came down the right and Wilkshire had a shot blocked but Kennedy followed up to score from inside the goal area.

Australia rounded out the victory in 86^th minute when Wilkshire’s free kick from wide on the left was touched over the line by Mile Jedinak.

Match details (unofficial)

Australia 3 (Brett HOLMAN 8’, Josh KENNEDY 65’, Mile JEDINAK 86’) OMAN 0

Date: 11 October 2011

Competition: World Cup qualifier, Asian Football Confederation, Round 3

Venue: ANZ Stadium, Sydney

Kick-off: 7.30 pm

Referee: Kovalenko VALENTIN

Assistant Referee: Ilyasov RAFAEL and Mohammed AL HOOTI

Fourth Official: Tseytlin VLADISLAV

Attendance: 24,272

Australia

18 Adam FEDERICI; 2 Lucas NEIL; 2 Michael ZULLO (10 Alex BROSQUE  87’); 3 Rhys WILLIAMS (23 Robbie KRUSE 72’); 7 Mile JEDINAK; 8 Luke WILKSHIRE   82

9 Josh KENNEDY (19 Neil KILKENNY 90+1’); 14 Brett HOLMAN; 16 Carl VALERI; 17 Matt MCKAY; 22 Matthew SPIRANOVIC

Unused substitutes: 6 Sasha OGNENOVSKI; 11 James TROISI; 12 Nathan COE; 13 Adam SAROTA

Yellow cards: Josh KENNEDY 41’; Luke WILKSHIRE 82’

Red cards: 0

Oman

1 Ali-Al HABSI; 4 Juma AL MAASHARI; 5 Mohammed AL BALUSHI; 6 Rashid AL FARSI; 11 Saad AL MUKHAINI; 12 Ahmed MAHAIJRI; 13 Abdul AL ALAWI; 15 Ishmail AL AJMI 65’); 16 Abdullahaziz AL MUQBALI; 20 Amad AL HOSNI (Hassan AL HOUSNI 84’) 21 Mohammed AL MAKHAINI (Eid AL FARSI 65’).

Yellow cards: Nil

Red cards: Nil

Matthew Spiranovic started crucial game against Oman

Roy Hay

Geelong’s Matthew Spiranovic was Hoger Osiek’s choice for the starting role in central defence with skipper Lucas Neill for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Oman at Sydney’s ANZ stadium last night.

Most pundits expected the more experienced Sasha Ognenovski to play, but the youngster’s speed and flexibity probably won him the nod.

Spiranovic started shakily being caught on the break and then miskicking a clearance but then he settled to play a composed game combining with Neill to deal with the Omani counter-attacks.

He and Neill also started most of the Australian moves out of their own half and finished as the only two defenders as the coach brought on attacking players and the Socceroos cruised to a three-nil win.

Two minutes after the interval, when Australia got a free kick on the right Spiranovic got on the end of it but his header went over the bar.

Apart from one free kick in a dangerous area late the second half, Spiranovic did not put a foot wrong after that early period.

After wards Holger Osiek said it was difficult to get into the game. ‘Amad Al Hosni was a very dangerous player, very fast and he created a lot of problems. First of all you have to get a feeling for this guy, how he moves, what he does, and it takes some time. Later on he did very cleverly and it was as if he had been round for years already.’