In the World Preliminary Round of 12 in Asia, the Australian team did not have the opportunity to directly qualify, and their home stadium suddenly collapsed in the final stage of the game, conceding 2 goals in 5 minutes, and was killed by the Japanese team. After australia's match, they locked in third place in the group with 15 points. For the Australian team, although they still have hope of qualifying for the World Cup by playing play-offs, this hope is very slim. After all, the competitors of Asian teams are South American teams, and the gap between them is very large. After the end of the game, many Australian players lost their souls, I believe they also know the difficulty of qualifying for the World Cup!
0-2 killed! World Preliminary Round Australia locked in 3rd place
This World Preliminary Tournament against Japan is also a life-and-death battle for the Australian team. If they can get 1 point, they still have the hope of directly qualifying. On the other hand, if you lose to the Japanese team, you will not have the opportunity to advance directly. Eighty minutes before the match, the two teams attacked and defended each other. But the Japanese team is more tenacious. Through the combination of patient short passes, they infiltrated the Australian restricted area again and again to create a threat. The turning point of the game occurred in the 84th minute, when the Japanese team, which could not open the situation for a long time, made a third substitution. Mitsuru replaces Shimonaka Bi. This substitution is a masterpiece of Mori Hoichi.
In the 89th minute of the match, substitute Mitsuru helped Japan score a deadly goal. This goal also made the mentality of the Australian players collapse directly. Five minutes later, Sanji scored the second goal and declared the game dead. After being killed by the Japanese team, the Australian team's points also continued to stay at 15 points, 4 points behind the Saudi team, so that the results of the japanese team and the Saudi team in the previous two places directly advanced to the World Cup. Australia locked in third place and went to play the play-offs!
There is little hope of qualifying for the World Cup, and many people are lost after the game
Australia finished fourth in Asia, while most of their main players played in the Europa League. But even such a strong opponent can not get a direct qualification in Asia, which is enough to show that Asian football has become more and more competitive in recent years.
For the Australian team, it is difficult to qualify for the World Cup next. They needed a direct conversation with the third place in Group A. After defeating the opponent, there is also a final battle with the South American team. Even if Australia can get 0.5 places in Asia, they may not be able to beat South American teams. Judging from the past World Cup results, Asian teams have very little hope of qualifying for the World Cup through play-offs. Perhaps, this is also the real reason why the Australian players were lost after the game.