Kuwait 2-2 Australia: Socceroos A Step Closer To Qatar 2011

Australia’s attendance at next year’s Asian Cup in Qatar remains in the balance after a hard-fought draw away against fellow Group A front-runner Kuwait left the Socceroos, Oman and Kuwait with everything to play for going into the remaining qualification round in March.

Australia raced into a two goal lead with strikes from Luke Wilkshire and Dean Heffernan. Relatively comfortable for the opening half hour, the introduction of Hamed Al Enezi mid-way through the first half proved a master stroke by Kuwait’s Serbian coach Goran Tufegdžić.

Hamed’s introduction injected pace that stretched the Australian defence and allowed playmaker Bader Al Mutwa to dictate play. An error by Simon Colosimo in the 40th minute led to Kuwait’s first.

Bader’s vision and technique then set up Yusuf Nasser in the 43rd minute, who shot low and hard past Eugene Galekovic to draw Kuwait level.

Australia’s opener had come in only the second minute, when a Dean Heffernan long throw was knocked down in the box by Mile Jedinak. Luke Wilkshire arrived to smash the bouncing ball into the Kuwait goal with a left foot half volley.

Two minutes later and an in-swinging Nick Carle free kick arrived to Heffernan on the edge of the six yard box, where the Kuwait defence allowed the Central Coast Mariners to slot the ball home at his leisure and put Australia 2-0 up.

Pim Verbeek’s men were content to sit back and soak up the minimal Kuwaiti pressure for the remainder of the half, that is until Bader began to exert his influence.

In the 39th minute Colosimo slipped at the crucial moment as a Kuwaiti long ball came over the top of the Socceroo’s defence. The Sydeny FC man’s error will do little boost his chances of challenging for the centre back position on a more regular basis.

Hamed Al Enezi collected the ball and paused, picked his spot and struck a low, well placed shot through the legs of Craig Moore and into the side netting to pull one back for Kuwait.

Four minutes later and man of the match Bader played a perfectly weighted diagonal pass in behind the Australian defence, who were admittedly caught holding too high a line on the edge of their box.

Nasser arrived on the outside of Matthew Kemp and struck a low shot beyond Eugene Galekovic for the equaliser.

The second half produced no goals but more chances for Kuwait than Australia, with Yusuf, Hamed and Bader in particular continuing to impress.

Pim Verbeek has to be pleased in part by the performance of his players, few of whom would be first choice on a regular occasion. Cyrstal Palace’s Nick Carle showed intelligence and ability that will boost his claim to feature more regularly.

Carle and FC Nurnberg’s Dario Vidosic brought the best out of Melbourne Victory’s Archie Thompson and all three will challenge for fringe places in this summer’s World Cup squad.

The defence was less impressive and although they kept Kuwait out in the second half, Verbeek will be glad to see regulars such as Lucas Neill and Scott Chipperfield return to the fold when available.

For now, Australia must wait until the home match with Indonesia in Brisbane on March 3rd to secure qualification, with Oman, Kuwait, and the Socceroos all still able to secure a place at next year’s tournament in Qatar.