TWO- GOAL TIM AN AUSSIE HERO Pushing 38, Socceroo legend rescues World Cup hopes
ICELAND qualified for the World Cup for the first time after beating Kosovo 2- 0 yesterday, and Serbia clinched a spot at next year’s finals with a 1- 0 win against Georgia.
Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson and Johann Gudmundsson scored in Reykjavik as Iceland, with a population of 330,000, became the smallest country to advance to the World Cup finals.
It is their second successive appearance at a major tournament after their shock win against England in a run to the Euro 2016 quarter- finals.
“I thought after Euro 2016 that the hardest thing would be to motivate ourselves again,” Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said. “The hardest thing was to get going again after our massive party in France. And what’s more in a group contested between Croatia, Turkey, Ukraine and Finland.”
Iceland needed all three points to secure top spot in European qualifying Group I as Croatia, which sacked coach Ante Cacic last week, downed Ukraine 2- 0 in Kiev in the fight for second place.
Andrej Kramatic struck twice in the second half to send Croatia to next month’s playoffs, as Zlatko Dalic took charge of his first match.
Aleksandar Prijovic scored after coming on as a secondhalf substitute to cement Serbia’s place in Russia.
Asier Illarramendi netted the only goal as Spain completed its successful qualifying campaign with a 1- 0 away win against Israel. Antonio Candreva grabbed a second- half winner for Italy in a 1- 0 victory away to Albania in Group G. COMETH the hour, cometh the man.
Out of season and two months shy of his 38th birthday, Tim Cahill defied age and logic to score two crucial goals to keep Australia’s 2018 World Cup dream alive.
A home horror show was threatening to unfold when Syria opened the scoring on six minutes, but the Socceroos rallied to win 2- 1 and secure a 3- 2 aggregate win to advance to the final phase of the World Cup playoffs.
Cahill has come to the rescue for a succession of Socceroos coaches – from Guus Hiddink to Pim Verbeek and Holger Osieck.
There have been many vital goals for Cahill among the 50 – he reached that mark with his second goal in his 103rd cap – but these two will be up there, as the Socceroos continued their impressive extra- time record at ANZ Stadium following on from Uruguay ( 2005) and South Korea ( 2015).
The Socceroos will now face the fourth- place CONCACAF team, most likely Panama, next month for a spot at Russia 2018. Mark Milligan and Mathew Leckie are suspended for the first leg.
“I’m just happy the boss ( Ange Postecoglou) gave me the opportunity,” Cahill said.
“I’m not going to waste an opportunity. I feel great.
“When I play I know the defender’s going to be scared. I wear my heart on my sleeve and in the end you get your rewards. We have to take it to the next level and really believe in ourselves.
“We’re doing it the hard way but it’s feeling pretty good at the moment.’’
Syrian goalscorer Omar Al Soma almost caused Socceroos heartbreak in the 121st minute. If his free- kick crashed into the other side of the upright, Australia would have been eliminated on away goals.
Moments earlier Milos Degenek’s crucial late tackle prevented Al Somah from breaking through for an equaliser. The game was played at such a frenetic pace, referee Ravshan Irmatov had to be subbed on fulltime, replaced by fellow Uzbek Tantashev Ilgiz.
James Troisi had the game’s first chance on four minutes but Australia’s defensive line- up was exposed just two minutes later, with Tamer Mohamad releasing deadly Al Somah.
He composed himself with a touch and waited for Mat Ryan to commit before expertly striking a rising shot into the roof of the net.
Brad Smith, an inclusion for Aziz Behich, soon pulled up with a hip flexor and Aaron Mooy’s shock omission had an uncanny resemblance to Hiddink’s Harry Kewell axing of 2005, as he came on early and turned the tide.
The Socceroos promptly retaliated via an impressive passage, as Rogic broke and released Leckie with a weighted pass down the right.
Leckie whipped in a delightful cross that virtually sat on Cahill’s head. The veteran cushioned the ball behind the keeper and into the net.
Thereafter it transpired into a frenetic, end- to- end game, with the slippery conditions adding unpredictability.
Nikita Rukavystya almost sealed it in the 105th minute, but his right- foot volley from Mooy’s cross was tipped over by Alma in front of 42,136 fans glued to the action.
Enter Cahill.