Match Review & Highlights: Australia 2-1 Serbia

June 23rd, 2010 | by: Daryl | Comments Off

Serbia needed a win to qualify from Group D, Australia needed a win and either a Ghana victory over Germany in the other game, or – if German won – a sizeable swing in goal difference.

It all looked possible when Tim Cahill somehow beat Serbian defenders in the air to make it 1-0 in the 69th and then Brett Holman’s strike made it 2-0 in the 73rd. With Germany beating Ghana 1-0, Australia needed another couple of goals and they were headed to the Round of 16. But Serbia weren’t ready to accept defeat, and made it 2-1 when Marko Pantelix was there to score the rebound after Zoran Tosic’s bendy shot had been saved by Mark Schwarzer:

Cahill:

Holman:

Pantelic:

Superb effort from both teams, and Australia can leave with heads held high. Certainly more so than after the 4-0 defeat to Germany that started their World Cup campaign. But it wasn’t enough, and both teams are now finished at World Cup 2010: