Article
WC Playoffs: Aussies through to the 2006 World Cup
SYDNEY, Nov 16 (SW) – Australia have finally put an end to their World Cup qualifying misery, after beating Uruguay on penalties to book their place in next summer’s WC finals in Germany.
The first leg away to Montevideo having finished with a 1-0 score line to Uruguay’s advantage, the South Americans were coming to Sydney with the upper hand, but Hiddink and his men were eager to reverse the Aussies’ World Cup fortune, the Socceroos having failed to qualify from their two previous play-off finals (noticeably in 2001 against the same Uruguay).
It is then in front of a packed Telstra Stadium in Sydney that Australia played their long-awaited second leg against Uruguay, backed by an impressive crowd of 83,000 people. And the home advantage seems to pay off from the start, as Marco Bresciano fired his side into the lead after 35 minutes of play, putting both sides on level terms.
The score line remained unchanged after normal and extra time, the opponents’ World Cup fate all came down to the crucial penalty shoot-out session, and hero-of-the-day Mark Schwarzer made his mark in Australia’s soccer history by saving two Uruguayan efforts (Dario Rodriguez, and Marcelo Zalayeta).
Despite Mark Viduka’s missed effort, John Aloisi scored the decisive penalty kick to send Australia finally through to their first World Cup finals since 1974.
Comments (0)