Socceroos v Kuwait: early goal, Cahill equaliser, Luongo effort, Jedinak converts - key moments
VIDEO: Australia didn’t have it all its own way against Kuwait in an entertaining opener. Here are the five key moments in the crucial victory.
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The Socceroos survived a scare against Kuwait but ultimately proved too good in Melbourne to open the Asian Cup.
Here are five of the key moments that defined the clash.
1. GULP!
8th minute
It was a duffed corner from the left by Abdulaziz Alenezi, but it was enough to cause carnage in the Socceroos defence. As the ball bounced inside the penalty box, Ali Hussain Fadhel got low and headed the ball hard in to the bottom left hand corner. Tim Cahill was the ‘defender’ in picture, but questions have to be asked of the back four.
2. “TIM CAHILL HAS DONE IT AGAIN”
33rd minute
Receiving a throw-in by Ivan Franjic near the box, Massimo Luongo appeared to be well contained by three Kuwaiti marksmen. But he refused to be stopped, darting towards the by-line where he had time and space to square it back beautifully for who else but Cahill to ram it home off his right foot.
3. NORMAL SERVICE RESUMED
44th minute
It was Chile at the World Cup all over again as Franjic bombed forward down the right and delivered a beautiful cross in the direction of Cahill. But after setting up the first, the diminutive Luongo wanted a piece of the scoring action this time as he got in front of Australia’s all-time leading scorer to nod home perfectly with his head.
4. PENALTY
61st minute
Barely a minute after Mathew Leckie rattled the crossbar, Robbie Kruse skips inside the box and is brought down clumsily by Kuwaiti defender Sultan Alenezi. Referee Ravshan Irmatov has no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Mile Jedinak has no hesitation in stepping up to the mark to cooly slot home low and hard to the right. Game over.
5. WORLD CLASS KEEPING
Hameed Youssef played his part in keeping the scoreline to four with a couple of stunning saves, but Mat Ryan’s contribution cannot be underestimated. In a busy final quarter of the game, Ryan made an extraordinary, flying save to tip Al Ebrhaim’s drive over the bar to keep it at 3-1 in the 71st minute.
Originally published as Socceroos v Kuwait: early goal, Cahill equaliser, Luongo effort, Jedinak converts - key moments