Australia became the first country to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup. The Australians have confirmed their position against Indonesia as one of the favorites for final victory.
The hope of doing something exciting was soon dealt a blow in Indonesia, where there were many Dutch influences. Sandy Walsh, Ivar Jenner, Rafael Strick, Justin Hubner and Shane Pattinama are the five starting players who also hold Dutch nationality. They saw that team-mate Elkan Baggott was very unfortunate when he tried to block a cross from Jackson Irvine. Baggott blocked the ball and goalkeeper Hernando Arri was not cleared after that. The ball fell into the short corner in the twelfth minute: 1-0.
Australia led 2-0 before halftime. The Australians again succeeded in attacking from the right flank. From a sharp cross from Gethin Jones, Martin Boyle headed the ball at the far post with a header. Indonesia, which qualified for the knockout stage as one of the top three teams, no longer has an answer. Australia won 4-0 in the final stage through former Sparta Rotterdam players Craig Goodwin and Harri Souttar.
Australia will face Saudi Arabia or South Korea, led by Heung-Min Son, in the quarter-finals. These countries meet on Tuesday. Qualifying for the quarterfinals means Arizona will be without goalkeeper Matthew Ryan (pictured) for a little longer. The top match against Feyenoord awaits the Camarders next weekend.
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