Mile Jedinak’s second-half hat-trick booked Australia’s place in Russia at the expense of Honduras.
SYDNEY — Australia booked their place at the 2018 World Cup after a convincing 3-1 win over Honduras in Sydney on Wednesday night. Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak was the hero for the hosts, scoring all three goals for Australia, including two from the penalty spot.
Here are three thoughts from the match.
1. First half bore, second half score
Is that harsh on the first 45 minutes? Perhaps Australia’s endeavour was on show for a few moments in the first half, with golden chances for Mathew Leckie…
Former Socceroos striker David Mitchell joins ESPN FC’s Jason Dasey to preview Australia’s WCQ clash with Thailand.
Australia’s Jackson Irvine credits Japan’s game plan and still feels Australia can qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
TOKYO — Mark Milligan is adamant the Australia can bounce back from the disappointment of their 2-0 loss to Japan in AFC World Cup qualifying on Thursday night, insisting that the Socceroos did not underestimate their opponents in the lead up.
“No, definitely not”, Milligan told ESPN FC after wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of Mile Jedinak.
Japan
Australia
2
0
FT
Game Details
Live football odds with bet365. Bet Now »
GameCast
Lineups and Stats
“You don’t underestimate anyone and we won’t underestimate Thailand on Tuesday night. We definitely did our homework. Maybe we didn’t execute…
A-League officials need to consider a break during the international windows, for the good of the Australian game, says Marco Rojas.
Mental side of football is important, but Sydney are a strong team and Melbourne Victory are focused only on their coming match, Marcos Rojas says. MELBOURNE, Australia — Despite scoring one of the most impressive goals of his career, Melbourne Victory winger Marco Rojas won’t be insisting that he takes priority over teammate James Troisi in future free kick opportunities.
“James has scored one too, so there might be a little bit of a fight,” Rojas joked in the aftermath of his 66th minute strike into the top left corner of the net against Adelaide United at home last Saturday.
“We’re both pretty good like that. We’ll look at the position of…