AL RAYYAN: Australia will take on Peru next week for a place at November’s World Cup finals after beating the United Arab Emirates 2-1 on Tuesday in Asia’s final eliminator for Qatar 2022.

Defender Ali Salmeen deflected Ajdin Hrustic’s volley past Khaled Eisa with six minutes remaining at Al Rayyan’s Ahmad bin Ali Stadium to keep alive Australia’s hopes of qualifying for a fifth consecutive World Cup finals.

Jackson Irvine had put Graham Arnold’s side in front with a close-range strike in the 53rd minute but Caio Canedo levelled four minutes later with an emphatic finish into the roof of Mathew Ryan’s net.

The Australians increased the pressure throughout the second half and it eventually paid off when Hrustic volleyed towards goal following Aaron Mooy’s corner and the deflection off Salmeen proved decisive.

“We showed good character, I think we dominated the majority of the game and we took the chances when they came,” said Australia’s Martin Boyle. “It’s only a job half done. We have to dust ourselves down, prepare and we will go again.”

Australia will take on a dangerous Peru side in the same stadium in a do-or-die clash on June 13 in their quest to qualify for the finals and coach Graham Arnold said he expected more from his players.

“We need to improve more. I expect another big improvement after this game,” he said. “Obviously one game at a time and I thought the UAE put in a very good performance, a tight game, but we have had good preparation ... there was more cohesion with our play and after that game I expect we will be even better against Peru.

“My focus has been on our defence because we have been sloppy, conceding goals in the last couple of (FIFA) windows. We could have scored more, but at the same time there are things that we need to tidy up as well defensively to make it tougher.”

Nineteen-year-old forward Harib Al-Maazmi, who scored the winner in UAE’s surprising 1-0 win over South Korea that got them to the playoff, was a constant nuisance in the first half, forcing Ryan into a pair of saves at his near post in a tepid first 45 minutes.

But eight minutes into the second half the Australians struck, with Boyle turning the defence before finding Irvine, who scored with a first-time finish from inside the six-yard box.

Australia barely had time to savour the goal when Al-Maazmi again found space. His cross broke to Canedo, a Brazilian who first got an East Timor passport and then qualified for the UAE in 2020, who blasted home from close range.

Craig Goodwin and Hrustic both had efforts that flew over the target before Boyle saw the ball bounce off his shins and go wide as the Australians increased the pressure.

The game seemed destined for extra-time when Hrustic, fresh off winning the Europa League with German club Eintracht Frankfurt, met the ball from a corner that was only half cleared and his left-footed volley took a big deflection to find the net.

“We conceded a goal and we shouldn’t have,” said Hrustic. “But we kept going, kept fighting and we took our chance, and the goal for Australia was for all the boys, for the staff, because we have been through a lot and it hasn’t been easy.”

UAE had been looking to qualify for the World Cup for only the second time since their debut in 1990. Their Argentine coach, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, said the UAE players “lacked the stamina in the last 15 minutes”.

New Zealand take on Costa Rica in Doha on June 14 to decide the final qualifier for the tournament that starts November 21.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2022