Sydney: Australia advanced to third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and booked their spot at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup on Tuesday after cruising to a 5-1 win over Jordan at the Sydney Football Stadium.
The Socceroos were never in danger of losing once a Tim Cahill double and an Aaron Mooy strike put them three goals up at the break.
Tom Rogic and Massimo Luongo then struck in the second 45 to all but end Syria’s hopes of a comeback, although the visitors did manage to restore some pride at the death when Abdallah Deeb .
The victory ensured Australia finished top of Group B with a five-point lead over the Jordanians, who will now have to wait on other results to find out if they will also progress as one of the four best runners-up in the joint-qualifiers.
Despite only needing to avoid defeat to seal top spot in the group, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou had vowed before the game that his side would be going all out for the win.
They delivered on that promise from the opening whistle as they immediately gained a stranglehold on proceedings, and it was no surprise when the Aussies took the lead six minutes before the half-hour mark; Robbie Kruse running onto a neat pass from Mooy and whipping in a low cross that was swept home by Cahill inside the six-yard box.
The hosts doubled their tally in the 39th minute when Kruse skipped past Oday Zahran and clipped a perfect through-pass into the path of Mooy, who advanced on goal before calmly finishing past Amer Shafi.
The contest was effectively over a minute before halftime as Kruse emerged as the provider once more, finding space down the left and playing in an excellent cross for Cahill to nod into the back of the net.
But while they were now firmly in control of the tie, Australia showed no signs of letting up after the break and Rogic added a fourth eight minutes into the second half, pouncing on Cahill’s deflected shot and gliding away from a challenge before clipping his shot past Shafi.
And in the 70th minute, the rout was complete as Luongo got in on the act, ghosting in at the back post to convert Chris Ikonomidis’ cross with a simple finish.
Jordan did manage to score right at the end courtesy of Deeb’s fine effort, as he skipped inside Bailey Wright before curling an effort into the top corner but it was little more than a consolation, and they will now be nervously awaiting their fate.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.
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