Soccer Extreme : Coach Holger Osieck felt Australia fully deserved the 1-0 victory over Iraq that saw them reach the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 and revealed his delight that it was Harry Kewell who scored the winner.
Following a goalless 90 minutes, Kewell's header from Matt McKay's cross four minutes from the end of extra time at Al Sadd Stadium was enough to knock out the defending champions and clinch a last-four meeting with Uzbekistan.
“I'm very pleased and happy with my team's performance,” said Osieck.
“We managed to qualify for the semi-finals, which is definitely a great achievement and, looking at the game itself, although it went to extra time, during the regular 90 minutes we had more of the game.
“We played solidly in defence, we had a good structure, we created a lot of good chances and if I'm not mistaken, Iraq only had one great opportunity, the rest came from half-chances.
“We should have done our job in 90 minutes and then Iraq played very strongly in extra time. Some of our key players were tired but we battled through and I'm very pleased for Harry Kewell that he was the one to score the winning goal.
“Matt McKay did a great job on the left and Brett Holman equally on the right flank. We had a lot of mobility up front, interchanging of positions, but I'm very pleased with what I've seen.
“Of course we should've capitalised on our opportunities and it didn't happen but I'm not negative. The players showed great determination in the game.”
While clear-cut chances were limited throughout the contest Australia did spurn a couple of openings just before the interval. Osieck, though, was not overly concerned about his side's finishing.
“Definitely you benefit from every game you play. You always go into a game with a plan and the players know what is required but of course there are some things that don't go according to expectation,” added the German, who has already experienced success in Asia having led Japanese side Urawa Reds to AFC Champions League glory.
“You can learn when you make serious mistakes but our defensive shape looked solid, we created opportunities that looked good but that we didn't finish. That was maybe not so good.”
After banishing the memory of four years ago when they lost to Iraq in the group stage, Australia are now only two victories from their first AFC Asian Cup title but Osieck refused to look beyond Tuesday's clash with Uzbekistan.
“That is two steps ahead,” Osieck stressed.
“I'm happy and pleased with the performance, the team showed great character in this game, they played great football and played with big heart.
“The next game with Uzbekistan is waiting, I saw them the other night, they are a very good team too, they play a different kind of football and it's going to be a different challenge.
“First we need to recharge our batteries then we look at the game with Uzbekistan, that is my next target and I don't want to look further ahead than that.” (the-afc)