Inspiring Jedinak votes with his feet
IT was the night Australia voted “Yes” for the World Cup.
After 2½ years of slog, the ultimate prize of a place in the Cup finals in Russia next June is the Socceroos’ thanks to a 3-1 victory over Honduras at ANZ Stadium in Sydney last night.
How they got there, and the agonies endured on their way, can be discussions for another day.
Like the other historychanging result earlier yesterday, victory was all that mattered.
Australian captain Mile Jedinak was the starring figure of the night, a leader in every sense.
His was the free-kick that finally broke the deadlock and his were the twin penalties that extended the advantage.
The crowd of 77,060 got the result they wanted in the end, even if the final minutes seemed to slow to an agonising crawl until Jedinak’s third, with five minutes left, was the cue for a party.
Standing at a fork in the road, for themselves and the game, the Australians took the correct option.
Now they can start preparing for a place on the biggest stage of all.
Perhaps on a night of such high stakes, the quality of the game itself was never likely to be high.
In the second minute, Australian Matt Jurman’s miscontrol forced him into an ugly lunge into Alberth Elis for which he was correctly booked.
For long stretches the Socceroos were becalmed and Honduras were determined to hold them at distance.
On the half-hour, Australian coach Ange Postecoglou stood on the sideline and urged his players forward in numbers; but seconds later there were groans of discontent as another home attack turned back on itself.
Finally Australia fashioned a presentable chance. Tim Cahill was involved – but for once on the wing.
Stuck in the corner, Cahill laid a clever pass inward for teammate Aziz Behich to cross low.
Taking the shot first time, Tom Rogic scuffed it and the ball was an easy claim for Honduras keeper Donis Escober.
If anything, too many cooks unbalanced the Socceroos’ broth. With Jedinak so deep in midfield, he had become part of the defence, and there were six effectively in attack.
One of those in the forward line, Rogic, had struggled for space for the first 53 minutes, stymied by the Honduran tackling.
But that was the point when he set off on a charging run, slaloming through the Honduran half until tripped just outside the box.
Rogic was one of the options to take the free-kick but the captain pulled rank. Jedinak’s strike wasn’t overly threatening but it hit Henry Figueroa and deflected in.