Australia under pressure after ‘sloppy’ China draw

Melbourne, November 18 (BNA): Australia coach Graham Arnold has expressed his regret for the “inconsistent” performance against China after Australia’s 1-1 draw meant they were eliminated from the automatic qualifiers for next year’s World Cup.

China’s Wu Li scored a second-half penalty to frustrate Australia in Sharjah on Tuesday, as coach Arnold’s team fought the third straight game without winning the match, dropping to third place in Group B in Asia behind Saudi Arabia and Japan, Reuters reported.

The top two winners of both Asian qualifying groups advance automatically to Qatar 2022 while the third-placed teams will advance to a series of qualifications.

“We were a little choppy at times, but even the penalty kick there was only one team in the match and that penalty gave them energy,” Arnold said.

“We moved the ball well and created some decent chances and we just have to be positive and move on.”

Australia scored late in the first half, with Martin Boyle returning to net at the near post but the match turned when James Jeju was penalized for handball as he jumped to attempt a header.

“Until the penalty kick, there was only one team in the match and that penalty gave them energy,” Arnold said.

After scoring 11 straight wins in qualifying, Australia lost 2-1 away to Japan in Saitama last month and drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in Sydney last week.

Goalkeeper Matt Ryan said Australia had failed to achieve much with their dominance in play against China.

“A disappointing one tonight,” he said.

“I don’t think we did enough and didn’t create clear enough opportunities.”

Australia will next meet Vietnam at home in the January window, before qualifying for the Qatar finals against Oman, Japan and Saudi Arabia.