Milligan keen to take on Syrians

WHEN Syria almost ended Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign in 2017, Mark Milligan had no idea how close the Socceroos came to disaster.

Syrian forward Omar Al Soma’s free kick crashed into the post with almost the last kick of the Asian regional playoff second leg, and Milligan thought his team had just avoided a dreaded penalty shootout.

What he did not realise until later that with Australia holding a narrow 3-2 aggregate lead, Al Soma’s free-kick going in at ANZ Stadium would have put the Syrians through on away goals.

“I’ve been trying to forget that for a while,” Milligan said. “We didn’t know if that went in, that was it.

“It seems a lot closer, once we found out . . . we end up with what we deserve.”

Australia faces Syria once more in a vital game tomorrow night (12.30am Wednesday) in the Asian Cup. The Socceroos know avoiding defeat will be enough to secure second place and progress.

A Syrian victory, however, opens the door to Australia scraping through as a bestplaced third-placed team or being knocked out.

It is a match Milligan, now Socceroos captain, is looking forward to, especially with the surface at Al Ain’s Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium likely to be incomparable to that presented for the first leg of the World Cup playoff in Malaysia.

Australia is buoyant after an impressive 3-0 win over Palestine on Friday in Dubai.

Syria sacked coach Bernd Stange after its 2-0 loss to Jordan left it with one point and no goals from its opening two matches.

Australia will have to make one change with defender Trent Sainsbury’s second yellow card of the tournament against Palestine leading to a one-match suspension.