CONTINUE PLAYING. The Australian Martin Boyle (No. 6) tries to avoid the duel of Saudi Arabia’s Nasser Essa Aldawsari in his game on November 11 in the third round of Group B of the Asia Qualifying World Cup 2022. Australia will play against China next Tuesday. / (AP photo)
SEOUL, South Korea – Australia hopes to reclaim its World Cup qualifying campaign in Sharjah on Tuesday with a win that would almost certainly end China’s low hopes of returning to the Middle East next November The Socceroos slipped to second place in the halfway point Group B off, three points behind Saudi Arabia, the two teams separated 0-0 on Thursday in Sydney and just one point ahead of Japan. Only the first two from each of the six team groups will get a place at the World Cup in Qatar.
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If you don’t win in Sharjah, the game has been rescheduled from China due to travel restrictions from Beijing to fight the spread of Covid-19 on each of the six team groups. Coach Graham Arnold remains positive despite the recent setbacks. « We’re in a great position, it’s all in our hands, » said Arnold. “When you have something in hand, you’re in a great position and you don’t have to rely on other results.” Australia will have to do without Harry Souttar as the giant Stoke City defender against Saudi Arabia sustained a knee injury. China, with only one World Cup game in its history, has only four points out of five games so far to put pressure on coach Li Tie. A defeat would probably mean the end of all ambitions to finish third and enter the play-offs for the World Cup. After Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Oman, there were more and more calls for Li to step down, despite former Chinese coach Zhu Guanghu defending the current boss. « Few of the current Chinese players are hungry for football, » said Zhu. “Just like Sir Alex Ferguson said of the Chinese players, they can play the ball well when they are not challenged. But if they are challenged with limited space, they can’t make it. ”Saudi Arabia can get one step closer to a sixth World Cup appearance with a win against Vietnam, which has lost all five games so far. Japan are currently traveling to Oman with seven points from five games. In Group A, Iran and South Korea clearly pull away. Iran scored two goals in the final minutes to beat Lebanon 2-1 on Thursday and remained first with 13 points. Iran face Syria, bottom of the group with just two points, while Korea will stay on course 1-0 at the World Cup for the tenth consecutive year with a win over Iraq in Qatar on Thursday and the Tottenham Hotspur star are looking for further goals. In the other game in the group, Lebanon are third to host the United Arab Emirates. (AP)
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