Australia edge Peru on penalties to claim World Cup spot

Doha, June 14 (BNA): Australian substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne saved the final penalty kick to secure a place in this year’s World Cup in Qatar as they beat Peru 5-4 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw after one extra time. between continents.

Redmayne danced across the goal line before diving to the right to block Alex Valera’s penalty and give Australia a deserved win at Ahmed Ben Ali Stadium, Reuters reports.

Redmayne was brought in within three minutes of the match for penalty kicks and became an instant hero with his antics on the goal line as he looked to distract opposing players.

He danced up and down, shaking his hips and throwing his arms in a throwback to the clown antics of Liverpool’s Bruce Grobbelaar when they won the European Cup in 1984.

It was enough for Luis Advincilla to unleash his effort on the post and then Valera to save his effort as Australia qualified for the World Cup for the fifth consecutive time and sixth on aggregate.

They will play in Group D of the World Cup with defending champions France, Denmark and Tunisia. The finals will run from November 21 to December. 18.

“I am very proud of the players,” Australia coach Graham Arnold said. “No one really knows what these boys went through to get here, it has been so difficult, the whole campaign. The way they stuck, the way they stuck, it’s amazing.”

Australian Martin Boyle missed the first penalty but turned the next five to silence the thousands of Peru fans who traveled to the match and gave a raucous support but saw their team conjured few chances.

Instead, a player like Australia dominated the early exchanges, with winger Boyle twice cutting through the Peruvian defense to deliver exciting crosses.

limited efforts

The second half followed a pattern similar to the first with limited efforts on goal until the 80th minute when Australia suddenly had three good chances to win the match.

Peru captain Pedro Galeese easily saved Agden Hrostic’s free kick and after five minutes Aziz Bahish broke two steps and suddenly found himself in front of the goal, but he narrowly missed trying to straighten his shot into the net.

Then running to the left of Australian substitute Auer Mabel saw him slip the ball in Hrustic’s way but didn’t get enough power in his shot and saved Gallese again.

After nine minutes of extra time, Australian Matthew Ryan was finally tested with a stinging Edison Flores shot that was saved by the goalkeeper.

Flores then headed against the post as the South American team found extra strength in the closing stages but were still unable to decide the score after two hours of play, paving the way for Redmayne to emerge as champions.

Peru coach Ricardo Gareca said: “We were expecting to achieve it, we were close but unfortunately it was not.

“We are in pain. We did our best. They emptied their tanks and we feel cheated that we are out of the World Cup. We wanted to avoid penalty shootouts.”

The play-off between the fifth-placed Asian and South American qualifiers decided the 31st place in this year’s World Cup finals.

On Tuesday, last place will be decided in the finals when Costa Rica and New Zealand meet in the intercontinental play-off, as well as at Ahmed Ben Ali Stadium.