Australia out of Asian Cup after horror mistake

The Socceroos are out of the Asian Cup after a horror mistake by Milos Degenek against the UAE ended the team’s campaign.

The Socceroos lost 1-0 to the UAE, despite dominating the quarterfinal. Picture: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

A horror mistake by Milos Degenek has ended Australia’s Asian Cup campaign.

The Socceroos lost 1-0 to host nation UAE on Friday at a packed Hazza Bin Mohammed Stadium despite dominating the clash.

Degenek’s short backpass in the 68th minute allowed UAE striker Ali Mabkhout to nip in and round Mat Ryan before slotting into an empty net. That mistake was enough to put the hosts into a semi-final showdown with Gulf rivals Qatar and eliminate Graham Arnold’s men.

Australia were much-improved on their at-times sluggish display in the round- of-16 clash with Uzbekistan and appeared to have the match in hand before Degenek’s error.

An understandably gutted Degenek laid all the blame on himself in an emotional post-match interview with Fox Sports’ Daniel Garb.

“We didn’t go through because of me. I let the team down, the boys down, the country down. It’s a shit situation. It’s f****d,” he said.

Teammate Jackson Irvine sympathised with his fellow Socceroo and heaped praise on the rising star after his gut-wrenching error.

“Obviously it’s extraordinarily tough to take and hard to wrap your emotions around it so quickly after the game,” Irvine told Fox Sports.

“I told Degenek to get on his feet and keep his head up. He’s been one of our most promising players, he’s got a huge career ahead of him and while I haven’t seen the incident, I think he’s too honest for his own good.”

Australia’s defender Milos Degenek, left, makes a wrong pass to his goalkeeper Mat Ryan as United Arab Emirates’ midfielder Mohammed Abdulrah, right, looks on during the AFC Asian Cup quarter-final. Picture: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

Just moments before birthday boy Apostolos Giannou, starting up front alongside Jamie Maclaren in a revamped lineup, thought he’d put the Socceroos ahead. The Cyprus-based striker combined with Mathew Leckie to slot home in the 63rd minute but the effort was ruled out with Leckie offside in the build up. The first half was probably the most open Australia have been involved in at the tournament.

Buoyed on by their home fans, the UAE made a barnstorming start with Ismail Alhammadi particularly dangerous down the left.

Woke up to the news about the brutal way Australia crashed out of the Asian Cup but the second thing I saw was this classy interview. Everyone makes mistakes in life but how you bounce back is what defines your character. Well done Milos Degenek. https://t.co/88c3JR4FzN

— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottliebFOX) January 25, 2019

Australia had their chances too, with Trent Sainsbury heading well over despite being completely unmarked from a corner in fifth minute.

UAE came closest to scoring when Mark Milligan was caught in possession in the 21st minute and the hosts worked the ball to Alhammadi but his strike was well blocked by Ryan.

Giannou’s clever turn in the 40th minute led to a snapshot on goal but Khalid Bilal’s diving save kept the effort out.

Australia nearly fell behind right on the stroke of halftime but Mabkhout’s header from near-post flick-on was fired over the bar.

United Arab Emirates' forward Ali Mabkhout celebrates his goal. Picture: Giuseppe Cacace / AFP

The striker had the last laugh, however, when he intercepted Degenek’s pass to score the winner.

Australia poured forward in the dying minutes but couldn’t force an equaliser to the delight of the 25,053 fans inside the Al Ain stadium.

The UAE now take on Qatar in the Tuesday’s semi-final in Abu Dhabi with Japan and Iran to play in the other last four clash.

Originally published as Australia out of Asian Cup after horror mistake