The Socceroos have left themselves with a mountain the size of Everest to climb as a shock 2-2 draw against Oman has their hopes of automatically qualifying for the Qatar World Cup hanging by a thread.
Graham Arnold’s side looked to be in cruise control after a dominant first half, but the game was turned on its head in the second half as Oman refused to wilt.
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While the dream of finishing the final qualifying group stage in the automatic spots isn’t exactly dead in the water, it’s going to take a gargantuan effort to leapfrog second-placed Japan.
Foxsports.com.au analyses the biggest talking points from the match.
SOCCEROOS AGAIN STRUGGLE TO PLAY A COMPLETE GAME
There’s a classic sporting cliche that football is a game of two halves, and that was no more evident than in the Socceroos’ draw.
The Aussies were dominant in the first half, creating multiple chances and harassing the Oman backline with their immense pressing.
Martin Boyle was electrifying on the right wing, and a deft first touch from a Jackson Irvine ball over the top helped the team win the first penalty of the match which striker Jamie Maclaren blasted into the back of the net.
The Socceroos took a 1-0 lead into half-time, but after that, the game turned on its head for the second match in a row.
Whatever adjustments, if any, Graham Arnold makes at half-time, they simply have not worked.
Last week, Vietnam — the team who are yet to win in this phase of World Cup qualification — caused the Socceroos plenty of problems to start the second half and truthfully should have had a goal of their own.
It was the same again as Oman scored within 10 minutes of the start of the second half thanks to an unstoppable Abdullah Fawaz strike from outside the 18-yard box.
Aaron Mooy put the Socceroos back in the lead in the 79th minute, but Fran Karacic gave away a penalty in the dying minutes with Fawaz converted to level the scores at 2-2.
This hasn’t been an isolated incident in recent games, either.
When Saudi Arabia came to Sydney, the Socceroos looked far and away the better side in the first half before the visitors came roaring back and again perhaps should have scored themselves in the second.
If this issue isn’t rectified in the final two games, it will be lights out on the automatic qualifying hopes.
THE DIVISIVE PENALTY THAT COULD HAVE SEALED AUSSIES’ FATE
When Mooy put the Socceroos back in the lead with just over ten minutes of regular time to go, many expected the team to see the game out.
But Fran Karacic gave away a penalty in the 87th minute, after he was deemed to have bowled over an Oman player in the box, gifting Fawaz a golden chance to tie the score at 2-2.
The referee took his time before allowing Fawaz to take the penalty as the VAR reviewed the incident, but he was not instructed to replay the foul on the pitchside monitor.
On closer inspection, it looked like Karacic may have got his foot to the ball first.
Regardless, it felt like an almost tired challenge from the right-back who struggled to make his mark on the game.
It’s probably too harsh to say that it’s the foul that sealed Australia’s fate for a play-off match, but it wouldn’t be a false statement, either.
SO … WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Attention now quickly shifts towards the final two games of the World Cup qualification group stage.
And for the Socceroos, they don’t get much harder than facing the top two teams in their group, with a home match against Japan followed by an away trip to Saudi Arabia.
Speaking after the match, Graham Arnold continued to back his team and referenced a phrase that we’ve heard all too much.
“Still got a load of belief in the boys and at the end of the day, everything is still in our own hands,” Arnold said.
“We have to win both games.
“Beating Japan and Saudi Arabia away, our goal difference is like an extra point.”
Having the automatic World Cup qualification spots in our own hands has been the tag line of the Socceroos lately, but it begs the honest question: is it really?
Both Japan and Saudi Arabia face Australia, but they also play Vietnam and China respectively, the two lowest-ranked teams in the group.
For all the talk of having the automatic hopes in our hands, it will take just 90 minutes against Japan for it to potentially be snatched from the Socceroos’ grasp.
Either way, the Socceroos are in the fight of their lives.