Australia’s hopes of qualifying for World Cup 2022 – which would be their fifth straight World Cup berth – are still alive.
The Socceroos are headed to the inter-confederation play-offs against Peru after coming away 2-1 winners in a tough battle against the UAE.
Australia came into the match in poor form as they won just one of their last seven qualifying matches and finished a distant third in Group B behind Saudi Arabia and Japan.
But despite the absence of star Tom Rogic, the Socceroos showed some impressive fighting spirit to overcome the Emiratis.
Read on below as SBOTOP shares three key takeaways from this Asian World Cup 2022 qualifier.
Socceroos show resilience
Australia did not come into their big World Cup qualifier against the UAE in the best of shape. The Socceroos had a disappointing third round of qualifying as they won just four of 10 games – including one in their last seven – to finish a distant third in Group B behind Saudi Arabia and Japan.
Graham Arnold’s side also did not look all too convincing in their 2-1 friendly win against Jordan, which raised further concerns about their ability to overcome the UAE.
Adding to Arnold’s problems was the fact that he would be without his key midfielder, Celtic star Tom Rogic, who withdrew from the side due to personal reasons.
But amid all that adversity, Australia were playing relatively well against the UAE. Granted, they were not too active offensively in the first half and needed captain Mat Ryan to make some smart saves.
The Socceroos stepped up their game in the second half, though, and they took the lead through Jackson Irvine on 53 minutes.
However, the Socceroos suffered a setback as the UAE struck back just four minutes later. A defensive miscue from Irvine allowed Caio Canedo to score the equaliser.
But instead of shrinking, the Socceroos showed impressive strength and resiliency as they took the game to the Emiratis. And they were rewarded with a rather fortuitous goal six minutes from time as Ajdin Hrustic struck a sweet volley which took a wicked deflection from UAE defender Ali Salmeen that gave Khaled Eisa no chance.
It was an impressive performance overall by the Socceroos, who showed their mental strength amid the adversity they’ve had to endure in recent matches.
Playmakers show promise ahead of Peru play-off
Without a doubt, the biggest concern surrounding the Socceroos in recent matches had been their lack of quality and creativity in attack. And that concern was only magnified by Rogic’s withdrawal from the squad.
However, a trio of players stepped up in Rogic’s absence against the UAE. Jackson Irvine and Martin Boyle were both excellent in the match. They combined brilliantly for the opening goal and were responsible for most of the team’s World Cup 2022 highlights. And Hrustic – who was part of Eintracht Frankfurt’s Europa League-winning side – also stepped up and delivered the most crucial contribution of the match.
Looking ahead to the play-off final, Australia will have another big challenge to overcome against a Peru side that is well-organised and tough to break down defensively. But the performance of Hrustic, Irvine, and Boyle against the UAE was quite promising as it showed the Socceroos do have the playmakers who can cause the Peruvians some problems.
Missed opportunity for UAE’s second Golden Generation
While Australia kept alive their hopes of qualifying for their fifth consecutive World Cup finals, the UAE will have to wait four more years to end their three decade-long wait to return to the World Cup stage.
However, this may have been the last, best chance for this ‘Golden Generation’ of Emirati football to make it to the World Cup.
This terrific generation, which includes all-time leading scorer Ali Mabkhout, the talented Omar Abdulrahman, and Walid Abbas, led the country to Gulf Cup glory in 2013 and reached the last four of the Asian Cup in back-to-back tournaments in 2015 and 2019. But they fell short in qualifying for the World Cup 2018 and were again unable to overcome the World Cup 2022 odds this time around.
The likes of Mabkhout and Abdulrahman are now in their 30s, and the likelihood of them still being at their best four years later when the next World Cup rolls around are quite remote.
But despite their inability to lead the UAE back to the World Cup, they will still go down as some of the greatest players in the country’s history.
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