Things got worse for Australia before they got better, with Mile Jedinak sticking his leg out at the wrong time on an otherwise harmless corner and conceding a terrible own goal. However, the Socceroos are nothing if not scrappy, and who better to exemplify that than Tim Cahill? Cahill won a header from seven yards out on a corner kick and calmly finished into the side netting to draw his team within one goal of a tie. A wicked deflection from a Luke Wilshire shot saw a ball bounce off the Omani crossbar and fall to Cahill, whose attempt at a spectacular side volley flew off frame. Al-Habsi had a wonderful time denying Cahill's further efforts, and Australia looked doomed to defeat. However, Al-Habsi had a horror mistake when a simple dipping ball from distance from Brett Holman bounced at his feet and found its way to goal with five minutes left to play. Al-Habsi made a spectacular save on a Cahill header deep in stoppage time, but one wonders if he will rue the Holman goal for days to come. Australia escape with a 2-2 draw at home.
Jordan invited Japan into their home in Amman for what was guaranteed to be a historic occasion. Either Japan would become the first team to qualify for Brasil 2014, or Jordan would collect a scalp bigger than their home win against Australia early in the cycle. A draw would be enough for Japan to qualify directly to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals. An unmarked cross by Makoto Hasebe found an open Ryoichi Maeda from five yards out, but Maeda's header hit the crossbar and Jordan could breathe a sigh of relief. In stoppage time, Jordan had the opener when a well-struck Amer Deeb corner was met with fury by the head of Khalil Bani Attiah, whose ball flew too fast for the Japanese netminder to keep out. Jordan led 1-0 after the first period.
On the hour mark, a long ball down the right flank allowed Ahmad Hayel to run onto the ball and around the slower Japan center back Maya Yoshida, who had been dragged to the flank way out of his normal central defensive role by the ball. Hayel ran all the way to the center of the box before slotting the ball away for a 2-0 Jordan lead on the group leaders. Nine minutes later, an unbelievable backheel flick-on ball from Hiroshi Kiyotake put Shinji Kagawa (pictured, blue) in on goal, and Kagawa finished from six yards out on a dead sprint to pull Japan within one goal at 2-1. One minute later, a tackle from behind by Abdallah Deeb on Atsuto Uchida brought Uchida down in the box and gave Japan a penalty kick chance. Yasuhito Endo's kick was saved by Jordan goalkeeper Amer Sabbah mere centimeters from the post. Japan will have to wait and seek qualification in June 2013 with the rest of Asia after Jordan win 2-1.
Japan 13 pts +10
Jordan 7 pts -6
Australia 6 pts 0
Oman 6 pts -3
Iraq 5 pts -1
Goals
Oman
Abdul Aziz Mubarak 6
Mile Jedinak 49 OG
Australia
Tim Cahill 52
Brett Holman 85
Jordan
Khalil Bani Attiah 45+1
Ahmad Hayel 60
Japan
Shinji Kagawa 69
Match Reports:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Oman-hold-Australia-to-2-2-draw-in-WCup-qualifier/tabid/415/articleID/291995/Default.aspx
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/socceroos-coach-holger-osciek-lauds-squad-depth-ahead-of-clash-with-oman/story-e6frg6n6-1226605766478
http://www.sportlive.co.za/soccer/international/2013/03/26/australia-forced-to-fight-back-for-2-2-draw-with-oman
http://www.skynews.com.au/sport/article.aspx?id=858080
http://jordantimes.com/nashama-beat-japan-2-1-to-revive-world-cup-hopes
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-diqV_4_hU (Oman v. Australia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxcMjURppRk (Jordan v. Japan)
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