Written by Thomas Esamie & Doug Butcher. For more details see credits.
| After an early scare Australia rode out with a fairly impressive win. This was an Asian Cup Finals match. | ||||
| Played : January 9 | Venue : Melbourne Rectangular Stadium | |||
| Australia Matthew Ryan, Ivan Franjic, Tim Cahill (Tomi Juric 65), Matthew Spiranovic, Matthew Leckie, Robbie Kruse (Nathan Burns 72), Aziz Behich, James Troisi, Mile Jedinak, Trent Sainsbury, Massimo Luongo (Marco Bresciano 84) Goals : Cahill 33, Luongo 44, Jedinak 62pk, Troisi 90 |
4 | - | 1 | Kuwait Hameed Youssef Al-Qallaf, Hussain Fadhel Abdullah Ali Al-Maatouq (Amer Maatouq Al-Fadhel 56), Fahad Al Hajri, Khaled Ali Nasser Al-Qahtani (Bader Ahmed Al-Mutwa 75), Saleh Al-Sheikh Al-Hendi, Abdulaziz Ahmad Al-Masha'an Al-Enezi (Yousef Naser Al-Sulaiman 64), Fahad Ebrahim Al-Ansari, Sultan Al Enezi, Mesaed Neda Al-Enazi, Faisal Zaid Al-Harbi, Ali Ahmed Maqseed Goal : Fadhel 8 |
| Referee : Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan) Linesmen : Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan), Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgystan) Attendance : 25231 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Nabil Maaloul (Kuwait) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| This win ensured Australia would advance to the quarter finals all that remained was to find out whether as group winner or runner up. This was an Asian Cup Finals match. | ||||
| Played : January 13 | Venue : Sydney Olympic Stadium | |||
| Australia Matthew Ryan, Ivan Franjic, Jason Davidson, Tim Cahill (Tomi Juric 51), Mark Milligan, Matthew Spiranovic, Matthew Leckie (Tommy Oar 77), Robbie Kruse, Matthew McKay, Trent Sainsbury, Massimo Luongo (Marco Bresciano 51) Goals : McKay 27, Kruse 30, Milligan 45pk, Juric 70 |
4 | - | 0 | Oman Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi, Mohammed Saleh Ali Al-Musalami, Jaber Mohammed Sagheer Al-Owaisi, Raed Ibrahim Saleh Haikal Al-Mukhaini (Ali Salim Obaid Bait Al-Nahar 88), Eid Mohammed Al-Farsi, Abdulaziz Humaid Mubarak Al-Maqbali, Ahmed Mubarak Obaid Al-Mahaijri, Abdul Salam Amur Juma Al-Mukhaini, Ali Sulaiman Rashid Al-Busaidi (Amer Said Al-Shatri 46), Amad Ali Suleiman Al-Hosni (Ali Hilal Saud Al-Jabri 46), Mohsin Johar Al-Khaldi |
| Referee : Ryuji Sato (Japan) Linesmen : Toru Sagara (Japan), Toshiyuki Nagi (Japan) Attendance : 50276 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Paul Le Guen (Oman) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| Needing a draw to advance to the quarterfinals as group winners Australia, on a bumpy pitch infested by what looked like a lot of flying bugs (moths? locusts?), managed to lose the match by a solitary goal to advance in second place. This was an Asian Cup Finals match. | ||||
| Played : January 17 | Venue : Lang Park, Brisbane | |||
| Australia Matthew Ryan, Ivan Franjic, Mark Milligan, Matthew Spiranovic, Tomi Juric, Aziz Behich, James Troisi (Matthew Leckie 60), Nathan Burns (Robbie Kruse 71), Matthew McKay (Tim Cahill 71), Trent Sainsbury, Massimo Luongo |
0 | - | 1 | South Korea Kim Jin-Hyeon, Kim Chang Soo, Kim Jin Su, Kwak Tae-Hwi, Park Joo-Ho (Han Kook-Young 41), Keun-Ho Lee, Han Kyo-Won (Jang Hyun-Soo 76), Koo Ja-Cheol (Son Heung-Min 49), Kim Sung-Yueng, Lee Jeong-Hyeop, Kim Young-Gwon Goal : Lee Jeong-Hyeop 32 |
| Referee : Nawaf Abdullah Ghayyath Shukralla (Bahrain) Linesmen : Yaser Khalil Ebrahim Abdulla Tulefat (Bahrain), Ebrahim Mubarak Sabt Moosa Saleh (Bahrain) Attendance : 48513 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Ulrich Stielike (South Korea) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| This was an Asian Cup Finals match. | ||||
| Played : January 17 | Venue : Lang Park, Brisbane | |||
| Australia Matthew Ryan, Trent Sainsbury, Jason Davidson, Ivan Franjic, Alex Wilkinson, Mile Jedinak, Massimo Luongo, Mark Bresciano (James Troisi 61), Robbie Kruse, Matthew Leckie (Nathan Burns 69), Tim Cahill (Mark Milligan 81) Goals : Cahill 49, 65 |
2 | - | 0 | China Wang Dalei, Ren Hang, Zhang Chengdong, Mei Fang (Jiang Zhipeng 46), Zhang Linpeng, Wu Xi (Yang Xu 83), Zheng Zhi, Cai Huikang, Wu Lei, Ji Xiang, Sun Ke (Yu Hai 72) |
| Referee : Kim Jong Hyeok (Korea Republic) Linesmen : Jeong Hae Sang (Korea Republic), Yoon Kwang Yeol (Korea Republic) Attendance : 46067 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Alain Perrin (China) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| This was an Asian Cup Finals match. | ||||
| Played : January 27 | Venue : Hunter Stadium, Newcastle | |||
| Australia Mathew Ryan, Ivan Franjic, Trent Sainsbury, Matthew Spiranovic, Jason Davidson, Mark Milligan (Matthew McKay 58), Mile Jedinak, Massimo Luongo, Robbie Kruse (James Troisi 80), Tim Cahill (Tomi Juric 68), Mathew Leckie Goals : Sainsbury 3, Davidson 12 |
2 | - | 0 | United Arab Emirates Majed Naser Humaid Bakheit Maqdemi, Abdelaziz Mohamed Sanqour Qambar Mubarak Al-Mazam, Mohamed Ahmed Ali Gharib Juma, Al Amim Mohnad Salem Ghazy Al-Enazi, Walid Abbas Murad Yousif Al-Balooshi (Haboush Saleh Habou Salbukh 77), Khamis Esmaeel Khamis Zayed, Amer Abdul Rahman Abdullah Hussein Al-Hamadi, Omar Abdulrahman Ahmed Al-Raqi Al-Amoudi, Mohamed Abdulrahman Ahmed Al-Raqi Al-Almoudi (Ismaeel Salem Ismaeel Saeed Al-Hammadi 47), Ali Ahmed Mabkhout Mohsen Omaran Alhajeri, Ahmed Khalil Sebait Mubarak Al-Junaibi (Saeed Salem Saleh Salem Al-Kathiri 66) |
| Referee : Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan) Linesmen : Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan), Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan) Attendance : 21079 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Mahdi Ali Hassan Redha (Unites Arab Emirates) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| Australia reversed their defeat at the hands of South Korea earlier in the tournament in the most important match to become Asian Champions. In so doing they emulated the feats of their Womens counterparts some years earlier. This was an Asian Cup Finals match. | ||||
| Played : January 27 | Venue : Sydney Olympic Stadium | |||
| Australia Mathew Ryan, Ivan Franjic (Matt McKay 74), Trent Sainsbury, Matthew Spiranovic, Jason Davidson, Mark Milligan, Mile Jedinak, Massimo Luongo, Robbie Kruse (James Troisi 71), Tim Cahill (Tomi Juric 63), Mathew Leckie Goals : Luongo 45, Troisi 105 |
2 aet |
- | 1 aet |
South Korea Kim Jin-Hyeon, Cha Du-Ri, Kwak Tae-Hwi, Kim Young-Gwon, Kim Jin-Su, Jang Hyun-Soo, Ki Sung-Yueng, Son Heung-Min, Nam Tae-Hee (Lee Keun-Ho 63), Park Joo-Ho (Han Kook-Young 71), Lee Jeong-Hyeop (Kim Ju-Young 87) Goal : Son Heung-Min 90 |
| Referee : Alireza Faghani (Iran) Linesmen : Reza Sokhandan (Iran), Mohammadreza Abolfazli (Iran) Attendance : 76385 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Ulrich Stielike (South Korea) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| Though known abut much earlier Football Federation Australia officially announced this match on December 10, 2014. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : March 25 | Venue : Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern | |||
| Germany Ron Robert Zieler, Holger Badstuber (Sebastian Rudy 46), Benedikt Howedes, Shkodran Mustafi, Jonas Hector, Ilkay Gundogan, Mesut Ozil, Karim Bellarabi (Andre Schurrle 64), Sami Khedira (Christoph Kramer 63), Marco Reus (Max Kruse 73), Mario Gotze (Lukas Podolski 73) Goals : Reus 17, Podolski 81 |
2 | - | 2 | Australia Matthew Ryan, Luke DeVere, Alex Wilkinson (Bailey Wright 78), Jason Davidson, Ivan Franjic, Mile Jedinak, Mark Milligan (Aaron Mooy 69), Matt McKay (Oliver Bozanic 77), Matthew Leckie, James Troisi (Tomi Juric 87), Nathan Burns (Tommy Oar 61) Goals : Troisi 40, Jedinak 50 |
| Referee : Michael Oliver (England) Linesmen : Stuart Burt (England), Peter Kirkup (England) Attendance : 47106 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Joachim Loew (Germany) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : March 30 | Venue : National Arena Philip II of Macedonia Stadium, Skopje | |||
| Macedonia Martin Bogatinov (Kristijan Naumovski 46), Kire Ristevski, Darko Velkoski, Vanche Shikov, Daniel Georgievski (Stefan Ristovski 74), Dusko Trajcevski (Enis Bardhi 86), Marjan Radeski (Blaze Todorovski 46), Artim Polozhani, Aleksandar Trajkovski (Besart Abdurahimi 70), Agim Ibraimi, Dejan Blazevski |
0 | - | 0 | Australia Adam Federici (Mitchell Langerak 62), Aziz Behich, Tarek Elrich, Trent Sainsbury (Tommy Oar 46), Alex Wilkinson, Aaron Mooy (Tomi Juric 62), Mile Jedinak (Oliver Bozanic 72), Massimo Luongo, James Troisi (Bailey Wright 46), Matthew Leckie, Nathan Burns (Christopher Ikonomidis 82) |
| Referee : Edin Jakupovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Linesmen : Sreten Udovicic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Senad Ibrisimbegovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Attendance : Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Bosko Gjurovski (FYROM) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| Following the draw of April 14 the Socceroos' path to Russia was laid out and it began with an away trip to Kyrgyzstan. This was a World Cup Qualification match. | ||||
| Played : June 16 | Venue : Dolen Omurzakov Stadium, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan | |||
| Kyrgyzstan Valery Katsuba, Valerii Kichin, Daniel Tagoe, Azamat Baimatov, Viktor Maier, Farhat Musabekov (Ildar Amirov 66), Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov, Edgar Bernhardt, Anton Zemlianukhin, Mirlan Murzaev (Vadim Kharchenko 72), Vitalij Lux (Almazbek Mirzaliev 80) Goal : Baimatov 90 |
1 | - | 2 | Australia Mat Ryan, Ivan Franjic, Tim Cahill (Tomi Juric 87), Mark Milligan, Matthew Spiranovic, Mathew Leckie, Aziz Behich, James Troisi (Matt McKay 71), Mile Jedinak, Nathan Burns (Tommy Oar 56), Alex Wilkinson Goals : Jedinak 2, Oar 67 |
| Referee : Khamis Mohammed Al-Marri (Qatar) Linesmen : Taleb Salem Al-Marri (Qatar), Juma Mohammed Al-Burshaid (Qatar) Attendance : 18000 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Sergey Dvoryankov (Kyrgyzstan) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| This was a World Cup Qualification match. | ||||
| Played : September 3 | Venue : Perth Oval | |||
| Australia Adam Federici, Jason Davidson, Matthew Spiranovic, Bailey Wright, Tarek Elrich, Mark Milligan (Jackson Irvine 76), Aaron Mooy, Massimo Luongo, Matthew Leckie (Tim Cahiull 62), Nathan Burns, Tom Rogic (Christopher Ikonomidis 62) Goals : Leckie 6, Rogic 8, 20, Burns 29, Mooy 62 |
5 | - | 0 | Bangladesh Mohammad Sahidul Alam, Topu Barman, Mohammed Yeasin Khan, Mohamed Nasirul Islam Nazir (Yeamin Ahmed Chowdhury Munna 46), Ashraf Mohamed Linkon, Jamal Harris Bhuyan, Mohamed Mamunul Islam Mamun, Hemanta Vincent Biswas (Mohamed Monaem Khan Raju 37), Mohammed Enamul Hoque (Abdul Baten Mojumdar Komal 87), Mohamed Jahid Hasan Ameli, Mohammed Jewel Rana |
| Referee : Vo Minh Tri (Vietnam) Linesmen : Pham Manh Long (Vietnam), Nguyen Trung Hau (Vietnam) Attendance : 19495 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Lodewijk de Kruif (Bangladesh) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| Australia had to wait until after halftime to move ahead and this match was the first the senior mens side has played on an artificial pitch. After this match Australia lead the group with 9 points. This was a World Cup Qualification match. | ||||
| Played : Sept 8 | Venue : Republican Central Stadium, Dushanbe | |||
| Tajikstan Alisher Dodov, Farkhod Vasiev, Eraj Rajabov, Davronjon Ergashev, Khurshed Makhmudov (Parvizdzhon Umarbaev 63), Jakhongir Dzhaillov, Nuriddin Davronov, Dilshod Vasiev, Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev, Akhtam Nazarov (Akhtam Khamrakulov 74), Manuchekhr Dzhaillov |
0 | - | 3 | Australia Adam Federici, Jason Davidson, Tim Cahill, Mark Milligan, Matthew Spiranovic, Matthew Leckie (Tommy Oar 78), Bailey Wright, Aaron Mooy (Tom Rogic 68), Matthew McKay (Nathan Burns 68), Ryan McGowan, Massimo Luongo Goals : Milligan 57, Cahill 73, 90 |
| Referee : Jameel Juma Abdulhusain Mohamed (Bahrain) Linesmen : Mohamed Jaafar Mohamed Salman, Nawaf Shaheen Moosa Attendance : Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Mubin Ergashev (Tajikstan) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| Jordan took a firm hold of leadership of the group with this win. This was a World Cup Qualification match. | ||||
| Played : October 8 | Venue : Amman International Stadium | |||
| Jordan Amer Shafi Mahmoud Sabbah, Baha Abdel-Rahman, Mohammad Al-Basha, Oday Zahran, Yaseen Anas Al-Bakhit (Mahmoud Zatara 87), Abdallah Deeb, Rajaei Ayed Fadel Hasan (Sharif Adnan Nassar 88), Ibrahim Zawahreh, Hassan Abdel Fattah, Hamza Al-Daradreh (Monther Abu Amara 90), Mohammad Aldmeiri Goals : Hassan Abdel Fattah 47pk, Hamza Al-Daradreh 85 |
2 | - | 0 | Australia Adam Federici, Jason Davidson, Mark Milligan, Matt Spiranovic, Matthew Leckie, Bailey Wright (Tomi Juric 77), Tom Rogic (Tim Cahill 67), Tommy Oar (Nathan Burns 46), Aaron Mooy, Massimo Luongo, Tarek Elrich |
| Referee : Maasaki Toma (Japan) Linesmen : Otsuka Haruhiro, Toshiyuki Tanaka (both Japan) Attendance : 11462 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Paul Put (Jordan) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| Kyrgystan were better value for the first hour or so than the final scoreline suggests and had they been awarded the early shout for a penalty who knows what might have been... in the final analysis were it not for the Kyrgyz keeper Australia might have had 10. And one of the 3 goals Australia did get was a cracking header by the defender Amirov off a corner. Another was a penalty... This was a World Cup Qualification match. | ||||
| Played : November 12 | Venue : Bruce Stadium, Canberra | |||
| Australia Adam Federici, James Meredith, Bailey Wright, Ryan McGowan, Trent Sainsbury, Mark Milligan, Aaron Mooy, Mile Jedinak (Tomas Rogic 61), Massimo Luongo, Tim Cahill, Tomi Juric (Nathan Burns 28 (James Troisi 73)) Goals : Jedinak 40pk, Cahill 50, Amirov 70og |
3 | - | 0 | Kyrgyzstan Pavel Matiash, Valerii Kichin, Talant Samsaliev, Viktor Maier, Azamat Baimatov (Kozubaev Tamirlan 77), Islam Shamshiev (Vitalij Lux 58), Ildar Amirov, Ivan Filatov (Uulu Kairat Zhyrgalbek 46), Duishebekov Bahtiyar, Musabekov Farkhat, Edgar Bernhardt |
| Referee : Kim Sang Woo (South Korea) Linesmen : Yang Byoung Eun, Kim Young Ha (South Korea) Attendance : 19412 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Alexander Krestinin (Kyrgyzstan) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||
| In the fixture between Kyrgystan and Jordan the central Asian team actually won and combined with Australia's win here that left Australia on top of the table by 2 points over Jordan after 6 matches each. With two matches left a win and a draw in the final game against Jordan would seal qualification to the next round for Australia. This was a World Cup Qualification match. | ||||
| Played : November 17 | Venue : Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka | |||
| Bangladesh Mohammad Sahidul Alam, Rayhan Hasan, Topu Barman, Mohammed Yeasin Khan, Jamal Bhuyan, Mohammed Mamunul Islam, Mohammad Ziban (Aminur Rahman Sojib 87), Hemonta Vinsent Biswas, Mohammed Nasirul Islam, Mohammed Monaem Khan Raju, Abdul Batem Komal Goals : |
0 | - | 4 | Australia Adam Federici, James Meredith (Jason Davidson 57), Bailey Wright, Joshua Risdon, Alex Wilkinson, Aaron Mooy (Thomas Oar 46), Mile Jedinak, Matthew McKay, Massimo Luongo (James Troisi 46), Tim Cahill, Nathan Burns Goals : Cahill 6, 32, 37, Jedinak 43 |
| Referee : Wang Di (China) Linesmen : Wang Dexin, Shi Xiang (both China) Attendance : 19730 Coaches : Angelo Postecoglou (Australia), Fabio Lopez (Bangladesh) | ||||
| Squad Listing | ||||