Free kick, then luck break the deadlock
IT was the night that Australia voted Yes for the World Cup.
After 2½ years of slog, the ultimate prize of a place in Russia next year is the Socceroos’ prize thanks to a 3-1 victory over Honduras at ANZ Stadium.
How they got there, and the agonies endured on their way, can be discussions for another day. Like the other historychanging result earlier in the day, victory was all that mattered.
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 of pure relief..
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 contest was never likely to be high. There was so much to play for and yet almost a sense beforehand of expectation and excitement among the fans converging on ANZ Stadium, yet not the tension of a crowd seriously contemplating the prospect of losing.
The players, though, seemed far more cognisant of what they were playing for. In the second minute 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 was determined to hold them at distance. On the half hour 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. Cahill was involved but for once on the wing — stuck in the corner, he laid a clever pass inwards for Aziz Behich to cross low. Taking the shot first time, Tom Rogic scuffed it and the ball was an easy claim for Donis Escobar.
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. Postecoglou, as ever, wasn’t about to die wondering.
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.
How the Australians needed the luck missing in recent ties. And there was more to come their way on 71 minutes as Bryan Acosta stretched for the ball in his own penalty box and it brushed his hand. Referee Nestor Pitana spotted the offence, and Jedinak thumped home the penalty.
Acosta drove a promising free kick too high as Honduras belatedly tried to recover, but with five minutes left Robbie Kruse was sent clear and then sent flying as he prepared to shoot. With supreme assurance, Jedinak’s penalty made it 3-0, and even a late consolation for Alberth Elis, scrambled in at close range, couldn’t spoil the night.