Milligan rescues draw for Australia
SAINT PETERSBURG: Australia captain Mark Milligan converted a second-half penalty in Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Cameroon in Saint Petersburg that left both teams heading for an early Confederations Cup exit.
Cameroon midfielder AndreFrank Zambo Anguissa scored with a superb flick on the stroke of half-time, but Milligan slotted home a spot-kick on 60 minutes as both sides picked up their first point in Group B.
The draw left both sides trailing Germany and Chile, who meet later in Kazan, and needing to win their final match just to have any hope of reaching the semifinals.
Cameroon play world champions Germany in Sochi on Sunday, while the Socceroos play Copa America holders Chile in Moscow.
“I am quite disappointed because we had the means to win the match,” said Zambo Anguissa, who was named man of the match. “But nothing is over, we still have a match to go against Germany. There’ll be pressure but that is why we do this job.”
Just like against Germany, whose captain Julian Draxler netted a penalty just before half-time in Monday’s 3-2 win over the Socceroos in Sochi, another lapse in concentration proved costly for Australia.
“I think we dominated large parts of the game, but there was a small lapse in concentration right at the end of the half that cost us,” said Milligan.
“We’ll look at our game again, take the positives from it and we’ll aim to beat Chile.”
Before Zambo Anguissa’s magical flick, there were few clear chances for both sides in an intense opening 45 minutes. Hugo Broos’ Cameroon relied on long balls down the flanks, a tactic that led to the opening goal, while Australia’s brightest moments resulted in Robbie Kruse firing straight at Cameroon Fabrice Ondoa.
Matt Ryan then held a shot from Cameroon skipper Benjamin Moukandjo following a deft backheel from Vincent Aboubakar, but the opening goal was worth the wait.
A beautifully weighted pass down the right from centre-back Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui was brilliantly scooped by Zambo Anguissa over the advancing Ryan and into the net.
It was the fourth match in a row the Socceroos had conceded a goal either in the first or final minute of a half.
It should have been 2-0 to Cameroon on 57 minutes when Aboubakar fired a great chance wide, goalkeeper KAZAN, Russia: Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez became Chile’s all-time top-scorer with his 38th international goal in Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Germany at the Confederations Cup. The Gunners’ star, the man of the match, wrote himself into the record books by capitalising on an early mistake in the German defence. “I’m very happy to be Chile’s topscorer now, our dream is to win this tournament and we feel we have a chance,” said Sanchez, who refused to be drawn about his Arsenal future. “We played well in the first half, but Germany adapted very well to how we were playing.” “Now we need to rest up for Sunday’s next game.” Lars Stindl netted his second goal of the tournament to equalise for the world champions just before the break. “We knew they would come at us with a lot of pressure and power,” said goal- s c orer Stindl. “But the result is not undeserved. We now know we can stand up well against great opponents.” The result leaves South Amer i c a n champions Chile top of leaving Broos with his head hands on the sidelines, just Australia equalised.
With an hour gone, Milligan tucked away a penalty after Alex Gersbach was brought down in the area by Cameroon right-back Ernest Mabouka.
The video assistant referee was consulted and confirmed the decision, with Milligan making no mistake with the spot-kick.
Australia coach Ange Postecoglou threw on Tim Cahill, the country’s all-time leading scorer with 48 goals, but the 37-year-old could not break the deadlock on his 99th international appearance. in his before