Olyroos so close to Tokyo

THE Olyroos are just one win away from the Tokyo Olympics after a dramatic 1-0 quarter-final win over Syria at the AFC Under-23 Championship in Thailand.

Al Hassan Toure broke the deadlock in the 101st minute at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium yesterday to help push

Australia into its first ever semi-final at the tournament, in which the top three will qualify for the Olympics in July.

The Adelaide United striker, who is in his first season of professional football in Adelaide, took the field in the 65th minute and with both sides remaining goalless at fulltime, the match went into two halves of extra time. Then there was a moment of magic as Olyroos midfielder Aiden O’Neill threaded an exquisite through ball from just past the halfway line to find Toure sprinting into the box.

The Australia forward poked at it with the outside of his right foot, pushing the ball through onrushing Syria keeper Mohammed Yazan Ourabi’s legs and into an open goal.

Coach Graham Arnold said the Guinea-born Toure was “doing fantastically well for us”, but all his players had displayed “wonderful fight, wonderful commitment”.

“We knew that Syria play a very direct game, a very physical game, so the boys had to be up for the fight, and they were,” he said. “Overall I know that we have a lot of improvement in us than what we showed tonight. Getting to the semi-finals for the first time ever is great for Australia, but my whole focus is on the next game and I expect the players to go up to another level.”

In the semi-finals, Australia faces the winner of the quarter-final between South Korea and Jordan. Saudi Arabia beat hosts Thailand 1-0 in the other quarter-final and play the UAE or Uzbekistan in the semis.