Arnie’s Roos secure Asian berth

Australia has booked itself a historic berth in the 2007 Asian Cup after the side dispatched of an underrated Kuwait, 2-0 at Aussie Stadium tonight.

Unfairly dubbed the Soccerwhos by media pundits prior to the match, the Socceroos overcame an early lack of cohesion and understanding to band together and secure victory as Travis Dodd opened the scoring on debut in the 76th minute.

Denied a valid penalty shout late, Sasho Petrovski finally found the back of the net for the national side in only his second appearance 11 minutes later as he tapped the ball home into a vacant net after a Dodd strike was parried into his path.

World Cup squad member Mark Milligan performed in stunning fashion in his first full international, brilliantly marshalling the midfield in a makeshift role which epitomized the Sydney FC star’s meteoric rise to the pinnacle of Australian football, while David Carney showed that he will be in the calculations for a national berth come the next World Cup in a dazzling performance.

But all plaudits were reserved for Dodd, who defied an indifferent opening to prove the match-winner as he dominated the right hand side of the park.

While the side’s structure closely resembled that of Hiddink’s heroes, the Socceroos struggled early as they failed to sustain possession or create any viable scoring opportunities during the first 20 minutes in a sign of the team’s lack of playing time as a unit.

Having selected a pace orientated line-up and controversially left out the graceful Nick Carle, Arnold’s preference seemed to have been justified early as David Carney almost broke the deadlock in the 27th minute with a fierce strike before Archie Thompson pounced on the rebound and nodded the ball straight at Nawaf Al Khaldi.

Carney’s shot ignited a Socceroo’s surge and within minutes Thompson was able to evade a defender and shoot wide into the side netting.

The squad vice-captain again came close to breaking the deadlock with his head, getting on the end of a brilliantly weighted cross from the ever consistent Alvin Ceccoli.

The Sydney FC connection of Carney, Milligan and Steve Corica, on his much belated return to the Socceroo set-up, proved to be influential as former Everton youth player Carney shot wide and Corica blasted the ball into the ‘keeper in the Socceroos final chances of the first period.

Kuwait were soon able to work themselves back into the contest during the second half as Al Mutairi caused pandemonium in the final third of the park.

Despite the inordinate number of Sydney FC players on the ground, the squad continued to struggle for unity when moving forward in a rather unattractive footballing display, but as the match drew closer to its conclusion it was Dodd who seemed the most likely player to break the deadlock.

And with 14 minutes remaining Dodd opened his Socceroos account, as David Carney was released on the left flank before sliding the ball into the area and into the path of the Adelaide winger who obliged, slamming the ball past a helpless Al Khaldi.

Petrovski rounded out the performance with his 87th minute strike, celebrating his first game in the Socceroos strip since a 2001 game against Japan in style.

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