Emerton double enough for Socceroos against Qatar

AUSTRALIA have made it to the final round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a dominant performance against home team Qatar. The Socceroos won the game 3-1 at the Al Sadd Stadium in Doha.

Brett Emerton was the man of the moment as he scored two goals either side of half-time while the lone striker Kewell made the points safe with his second goal in three games for the Green and Gold.
Highlights: Australia v Qatar in Doha

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Khalfan Ibrahim scored a 90th-minute consolation goal for the Qatari’s but it was the only highlight for the home side which never really had a chance. Schwarzer did amazingly well to get a hand on the initial shot but was unable to get up in time to save the rebound.

Australia’s next and final game in Group A will be played against China next Sunday at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium. Australia will be hoping to keep alive the 37-match unbeaten streak of home World Cup Qualification matches which goes back to 1981.

The Socceroos will be without Mark Schwarzer, David Carney and Luke Wilkshire who all received a second yellow card and will be subsequently suspended for the match against the Chinese.

The winless Chinese have no chance of qualifying for South Africa after they lost their home match against Iraq in Tianjin. Iraq will face Qatar in Dubai next week to see who makes it to the final round. Iraq only needs a draw to keep their World Cup dreams alive.

Australia will be one of ten countries still alive in the final Asian qualifying stage. These teams will be split into two groups of five where the two top finishing teams in each group will go directly to the World Cup. The two 3rd-place countries will then play a two-legged home and away playoff with the winner going on to play against the winner of Oceania in yet another home and away series for a spot in South Africa 2010.

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Match Details:-

Qatar 1 (Khalfan Ibrahim 90′)

Australia 3 (Brett Emerton 17′, 56′, Harry Kewell 75′)

Australian line-up: Mark Schwarzer (gk); Luke Wilkshire, Michael Beauchamp, Jade North, David Carney, Carl Valeri, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Mark Bresciano, Brett Holman, Harry Kewell (c) (Bruce Djite 85′).

Substitutes: Chris Coyne, Scott McDonald, Michael Petkovic, Rod Vargas, Mile Jedinak, Nick Carle,