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Slender lead Australia takes one-goal start to Uruguay
Updated: Tuesday November 20, 2001 8:14 AM
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Defender Kevin Muscat slammed home a 79th minute penalty to give Australia a 1-0 win over Uruguay on Tuesday in the first leg of their World Cup qualification clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Wolverhampton Wanderers star calmly buried the spot kick after second-half substitute Paul Agostino was pulled down chasing a low Harry Kewell cross. The goal gives Australia a priceless lead going into the return match in Montevideo on Nov. 25. "Tonight, we're all happy we've won, but the job is only half done," said Muscat. "We won't be celebrating. We're only 50 percent of the way to the World Cup." Agostino said he was in space and had anticipated the cross from Kewell when he was brought down.
"It was either (the defender) was going to bring me down or I was going to have a clear shot on goal," he said. The goal came at a time when it looked like Australia's tireless attacking might go unrewarded thanks to the tight Uruguayan defense. Australian coach Frank Farina praised Kewell's attacking flair that created the penalty but also lauded his own team's tough defending. "We kept it to nil at the back -- that was the most pleasing aspect," he said, adding that he was confident Australia had the attacking firepower in Kewell and his Leeds teammate Mark Viduka to snatch a crucial away goal in Montevideo -- meaning Uruguay would have to score three times to win. But Uruguay's coach Victor Pua remained confident his team could still qualify for next year's finals in Japan and South Korea. "They got one chance today and made it," he said. "But there are 90 minutes left in Uruguay and I hope we can turn around what happened today." Pua said the Uruguayan government was laying on a special plane for his team to get from Buenos Aries to Montevideo. The two teams fly to Argentina on the same flight Wednesday but Australia faces a lengthy wait in Buenos Aries to catch a connection to the Uruguayan capital. In a goalless first half, Australia dominated possession and forced a series of corners but could not convert any of them in front of 84,656 fans. The closest they came to opening the scoring before the break was in the 5th minute when Glasgow Rangers defender Craig Moore rose above the defense to head powerfully but saw the effort athletically tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Fabian Carini. Two minutes earlier, Uruguay's danger man, Alvaro Recoba, took an audacious shot from the halfway line that swirled in the wind and was dipping under the bar when Mark Schwarzer caught it to deny the Inter Milan star. Recoba looked Uruguay's most potent threat, beating two defenders in the 32nd minute only to shoot wide. Leeds United's young striker Kewell was closely marked by the tight Uruguay defense but still showed flashes of brilliance before setting up the goal. In the 34th minute he collected the ball on the right flank before cutting inside a defender and was heading for the penalty area when Dario Rodriguez felled him, earning the River Plate defender a yellow card. Both sides picked up the pace after the break with Australia earning two quick corners and Uruguay coming close to breaking the deadlock when Recoba's cross found Gonzalo de Los Santos, whose flashing header went just wide. Recoba then took on Australia's defense himself and his shot from the left forced Schwarzer to parry the ball wide of the post. Cutting in again from the left in the 63rd minute, Recoba shot low at the near post but Recoba again denied him. Australia came agonizingly close in the 69th minute when Kevin Muscat's looping header from a Kewell cross beat the keeper but rebounded off the post. Australia has not qualified for the World Cup finals since 1974 and is still recovering from the trauma of being eliminated at the last hurdle four years ago by Iran. Two-time champion Uruguay made it into the play off with a 1-1 draw last week against Argentina to secure fifth place in the competitive South American qualifying group. Australia: Mark Schwarzer Kevin Muscat, Craig Moore, Shaun Murphy, Tony Vidmar Brett Emerton, Paul Okon (captain), Josip Skoko, Stan Lazaridis (Paul Agostino, 46th), Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell. Uruguay: Fabian Carini, Washington Tais, Alejandro Lembo, Paolo Montero, Dario Rodriguez, Gianni Guigou, Pablo Garcia, Gonzalo de los Santos, Alvaro Recoba, Javier Chevanton (Mario Regeiro, 76th), Federico Magallanes.
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