Abu Dhabi: Socceroos veteran Tim Cahill came off the bench to score the only goal of the game as Australia notched up a second win in a row at their start of their campaign to qualify for Russia 2018 with a 1-0 victory over the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
The former Everton and New York Red Bulls forward had only been on the field four minutes having replaced Tomi Juric before he slotted Brad Smith’s cross from the left beyond UAE goalkeeper Khalid Eisa at the far post to give Australia the lead 15 minutes from time.
Cahill’s goal ensured Ange Postecoglou’s side picked up six points out of six from their first two games in Group B of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup and the reigning AFC Asian Cup champions now lead the standings alongside Saudi Arabia, who have also had a perfect start to the campaign.
“The match was difficult and we already knew that because playing away is very difficult,” said Postecoglou. “We were better in the second half and overcame the weather conditions to score the winning goal and get the three points.
“We forced our opponents to play with the way that we wanted and we nearly eliminated their strengths. Tim Cahill was great today as I knew that he would make the difference and he scored the winning goal even though he wasn’t physically ready during the last training camp. We have a strong character and we are capable with this group of players to go far in the qualifiers.”
The win was well deserved for an Australian side that worked hard despite the demanding conditions, with temperatures so high referee Malaysian referee Mohd Aimrul allowed drinks breaks midway through each period of the game.
Massimo Luongo, scorer of Australia’s opening goal in their win over Iraq on Thursday, started on the bench for the Socceroos as Postecoglou made three chances to the side that won 2-0 against the former Asian champions, with Milo Degenek and Mile Jedinak also sidelined as the Socceroos drafted in Matthew Spiranovic, Ryan McGowan and Robbie Kruse.
The UAE, meanwhile, made just one change to the side that defeated Japan 2-1, with Waleed Abbas coming into the line-up for Mohamed Fayez.
The home side exerted pressure throughout the opening 15 minutes, with Ismail Al Hammadi forcing Mathew Ryan to push the ball over the bar for Mahdi Ali’s side, but it was the Socceroos who went closest to opening the scoring in the first 45 minutes.
With 17 minutes on the clock Spiranovic saw his header tipped over the goal by Eisa after Aaron Mooy’s corner, while two minutes later Kruse should have done better when he was put in on goal by Juric, only for Eisa to drop to his right to save.
Mooy forced Eisa into further action when his in-swinging corner almost caught the goalkeeper out, with the Al Ain man pushing the ball belatedly over the bar, before - in the dying moments of the half - Smith had to be alert to keep Al Hammadi at bay after Omar Abdulrahman’s through ball split the Australian defence.
Tom Rogic went closer still for Australia on the stroke of half-time when he skipped through the UAE defence before hitting a left-foot shot that Eisa was equal to once again.
Mooy looked set to give Australia the lead in the 60th minute only to see his sliced shot from 15 yards out come back off the woodwork, while at the other end Ali Mabkhout should have done better when he latched on to Al Hammadi’s cross from the left, only to sky his effort woefully off target.
With both sides tiring, the game looked increasingly likely to end in stalemate but, as he has done so often, Cahill came off the bench to claim the win for the Socceroos with a typically assured finish from close range after an inch-perfect delivery from the left by Smith.
“I want to thank the players for all that they gave tonight and we had more chances than our opponents throughout the match, but we failed to take advantage and score,” said Ali. “We have lost one match and we still have a chance for a good comeback in the next matches.
“We played in difficult conditions as the heat and humidity affected the players in addition to the long trip from Japan. I want to thank the fans who attended the match and we were hoping that we could get a positive result, but I hope that we can make them happier in the next matches.”
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