Heartbreak For Syria As They Lose Out On 2018 World Cup

Tim Cahill’s extra-time winner ended Syria’s 2018 World Cup hopes as Australia came from behind to defeat the war-torn nation 2-1 in the Asia World Cup qualifying second-leg on Tuesday.

Syria, who were hoping for a first major World Cup appearance, took the tie to extra-time, after playing out a 1-1 draw in the first leg, but two headed goals by former Everton midfielder Cahill dashed their hopes and took Australia a step closer to the tournament.

Syria’s Al Soma opened the scoring in the 6th minute, but Cahill levelled proceedings 3 minutes later to level the tie.

Syria were reduced to 10 men in the 94th minute and the Socceroos took advantage of the numerical advantage and took the lead in the 109th minute, thanks to the 37-year-old Cahill.

Australia will now play either Panama, Honduras or the USA for a place in Russia.

Australia midfielder Mark Milligan said the next round will be tough.

“The longer the game went on, we had a good stranglehold on it. They fought with everything, they were outstanding and gave us an extremely tough match on our home soil,” he said.

“We worked hard, we knew what we were capable of and it was going to start to hurt them late on.

“We went aggressive with our formation but everyone worked hard and that is what we have in us.

“It was a loose pass for me for their goal and they punished us with the quality in their striker.

“The next round will be a different match, we will have a different challenge on our hands.”