AUSTRALIA has beaten BRAZIL, to take third place at the 2001 Confederations Cup, in Seoul.
A goal to defender Shaun Murphy - his third for Australia - in the 83rd minute, sealed the victory, the first time that Australia has both scored a goal against, and a victory over, the former World Champion, at the senior level, in six attempts.
The LG Socceroos dominated for most of the first half and were unlucky not to take the lead in the 12th minute, a move between Steve Horvat and Stan Lazaridis finishing with Clayton Zane's on-target header being parried away by the Brazilian goalkeeper.
A few minutes later, Josip Skoko again tried the shot which netted him a goal against Mexico, his effort this time just inches past the post, while Zane continued to make life uncomfortable for the keeper, almost forcing an error from a back-pass midway through the first forty five, and then skimming the crossbar with a shot later in the half.
Brazil then gained the upperhand in the second half, bringing out the best in the Australian defence with two clearances off the line, while keeper Mark Schwarzer was also kept busy, the save of the game coming in the 72nd minute with the Australian keeper banking on his reflexes to keep the ball out.
The deadlock was broken in the 83rd minute by Australia however, Lazaridis taking an acute angled free-kick from the touchline, his curling ball finding an unmarked Murphy, whose on-target header sealed the game.
Brazil almost found the equaliser in the second minute of extra time when Magno Alves drew Schwarzer out of his goal-mouth and then looped the ball over his head, but the ball dropped short, eventually bouncing over the cross-bar.
The LG Socceroos now return home on Monday (see further for details), before regrouping on June 16, for the World Cup Qualifier Camp, in Sydney.
FRANK FARINA - Post Match Interview:
Q : How are you feeling after that result?
A : Yeah, unbelievable. It was a great result, we've come up against a
Brazilian side which was a good side, to win and come third is fantastic,
it will most probably sink in in the next few days.
Q : Did you always believe that Australia could win that game?
A : I was always confident that we would create chances. I said to the
boys at halftime, if we maintained our shape and our discipline as we did
in the first half, we would get a chance in the second. I've always felt
that we could nip a goal, and as it turned out we were under a bit of
pressure in the second half, but I would say the chances evened themselves
out over the 90 minutes, we took ours and they didn't, and that's what
football is all about.
Q : What was the game plan going into the match?
A : We had a certain tactic which we employed and the boys did exceptionally
well again - it was reasonably similar to what we employed against the
French, everyone worked very hard, and it worked for us. We closed them
down in the middle of the park, and didn't give them room which is what
they like - they didn't have that and tended to get a bit frustrated
because they couldn't score.
Q : Can you believe that in the one tournament, you've beaten France, and
beaten Brazil, two World Champions - and yet Australia isn't in the Final?
A : Yeah, well, the game we had to win and should have won was Japan in
the semi final, and unfortunately it wasn't meant to be, but I think over
5 games, the players, all of them, have responded extremely well, we've
probably only had 45 minutes of bad football out of five games, and at
the end of the day, I would sign for that any day of the week.
Q : Where to from here?
A : Well, we've never lost focus of what it's really all about, this has
been great and I'm sure the players will all enjoy it, but the priority
is our next World Cup Qualifier against the winner of the Group 2 Oceania
Qualifiers - we have to get through that, and then move on to the South
Americans.