Soccer Extreme : Australia coach Holger Osieck was naturally delighted with his side's 6-0 victory over Uzbekistan but the German admitted he did not expect to win by such a large margin.Australia swept aside their opponents to reach their first AFC Asian Cup final at the second attempt with an emphatic performance that now gives them a real chance of hosting the continental competition in four years time as defending champions.
Once Harry Kewell had given them a fifth-minute lead at Khalifa Stadium, there was no looking back as AFC Asian Player of the Year Sasa Ognenovski doubled the advantage just after the half-hour mark before David Carney put the semi-final contest beyond Uzbekistan's reach midway through the second period.
Brett Emerton, Carl Valeri and Robbie Kruse then added further goals after Ulugbek Bakaev had been sent-off as Australia won at a canter.
“We had a brilliant game today,” beamed Osieck.
“The players put on a great show and performance. I'm full of praise and credit for them, what they did today was fantastic.
“You can't expect a result like this. We definitely wanted to win the game and go to the final but you can never predict the score.
“The secret was the way we presented ourselves on the pitch. We were well structured, we had a great shape, we played high, we tried to create, Harry Kewell had a great game and he's had a great tournament so far but he's not the only one.
“All the other boys have done well and I'm very happy with the way our team has developed in the tournament.”
While all the focus will be on Australia's attacking prowess, they have also proved formidable at the back having conceded just one goal in five games.
“It's a result of our structure,” continued the 62-year-old, who led Urawa Reds to glory in the 2007 AFC Champions League.
“The entire team works well defensively. We are very compact and the defence starts with the strikers, they close the opponents down and we are very well-structured behind them.
“When the opposition dribble into midfield, they run into a wall. We win the ball and we play our game. It sounds simple but it took some time to get the structure together.
“The more we play together, the better we become.”
Osieck was also keen to savour the victory before turning his attention to Saturday's historic final against Japan.
“It's not the time to talk about the final yet,” said the German.
“We've just played a great game, we just qualified for the final and the preparation will start tomorrow.” (the-afc)