The Asian Zone Round of 12 has come to an end, with Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and South Korea reaching the World Cup, and the United Arab Emirates and Australia competing for 0.5 places in the play-offs. Compared with the United Arab Emirates fighting for the play-offs, Australia is not very satisfied with the play-offs, because it wants to go straight to the World Cup, resulting in the last 2 consecutive rounds of losses, and lost 15 points in the 7 rounds after the opening 3 consecutive wins, and now it is difficult to compete for a World Cup place.
Australia left the Oceania Football Federation in 2006 and began to join the AFC to participate in the Asian Cup and the Asian Preliminary Tournament, and has advanced to the World Cup for four consecutive times, benefiting a lot.
Nowadays, Australia's golden generation is gradually withdrawing, and fewer and fewer players play in the five major leagues in Europe, resulting in the overall strength being thrown away by Japan, South Korea, Iran, saudi Arabia, and the 12 rounds are 1-2 away and 0-2 at home by Japan, which is the best embodiment.
After Australia locked up third in the group early, the team continued its slump in the final round of away games against Saudi Arabia. In the world ranking, Australia ranks 37th, Saudi Arabia ranks 53rd, Australia has not lost to Saudi Arabia for 24 consecutive years, and the advantage is more obvious.
In the 36th minute of the first half, Boyle single-handedly broke the goal, the referee signaled offside, and the Australian goal was invalid.
In the 64th minute of the second half, Djego tripped Sammy Najib from a defensive position in the penalty area, the referee awarded a penalty, and Salem Dawasari took the penalty to help Saudi Arabia win 1-0.
According to the statistics after the game, Australia only had 42% of the possession, the shot was 9-9 drawn, the shot was 2-4 behind, and the final loss of the game was not unjust. This is Australia's second defeat to Saudi Arabia after a gap of 25 years, after the previous 4 wins and 2 draws were ended.
Australia opened high and low in this round of 12, started with consecutive wins over China, Oman and Vietnam, won 3 consecutive wins, once pressured Saudi Arabia and Japan to rank first in the group, and then began to go downhill, was killed by Japan's home and away doubles, faced Saudi Arabia to achieve 1 draw and 1 loss, and was forced to draw by Oman and the national football team, 7 rounds of 1 win, 3 draws and 3 losses, lost 15 points, directly led to no access to the World Cup.
It can be said that Australia was dragged into the water by the national football team and Oman behind it, losing the 4 points that should not be lost, and now it is too late to regret it. In June this year, Australia first competed with the United Arab Emirates for 0.5 places in the Asian zone, considering that the intercontinental play-off opponent is Peru, which ranks fifth in south America, Australia's impact on the World Cup is hanging.