Middlesbrough keeper Mark Schwarzer was the hero for Australia yesterday in the Asian World Cup Qualifying Group 1 (the group of death) after very nearly screwing everything up. The Socceroos had traveled to Kunming to face China in a huge game for both teams. Tim Cahill and – shock! – Harry Kewell had pulled out injured, but Australia were battling towards a 0-0 draw that would keep them top of the group.
Then in the 88th minute Schwarzer brought down Qu Bo in the area, and gifted China a potentially match-winning penalty. Incredibly, Schwarzer atoned for his clutziness by saving with his legs, then gathering up the ball and holding it close.
Video below:
Elsewhere in the group of death, Asian Cup champions Iraq were turned over by Qatar, who claimed a shock 2-0 win.
Listen to that crowd.
So the Asian World Cup Qualifying group of death now looks like this:
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Australia
2
1
1
0
3
0
+3
4
Qatar
2
1
0
1
2
3
-1
3
China
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
2
Iraq
2
0
1
1
1
3
-2
1
Only the top two advance to the next (and final) stage of World Cup Qualification, so while Australia are sitting pretty (thanks to Schwarzer) and Qatar are flying high, China and Iraq have a lot of work to do.
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