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THEY might have had a chartered flight to get this far, but 90 minutes tonight in the foreign fields of Uzbekistan will tell the Socceroos whether the journey to South Africa will continue to be as smooth.

The first of the final round of World Cup qualifiers looms tonight as among the toughest, but last night coach Pim Verbeek declared: "We will have no excuses."

With a largely full-strength squad bolstered by the friendly win over Holland - from where the players flew in a $1m charter to Tashkent - Verbeek said he would play to win with three priceless qualifying points at stake.

"We have no excuses - the weather is beautiful but cool in the evening, we have no major injury concerns and the atmosphere is good so we have perfect circumstances for football," he said.

"Here, Uzbekistan have to take risks after what happened at the weekend - we don't. And I think we're good enough to win without taking risks."

The 3-0 defeat the Uzbeks suffered in Qatar reverberated around the group, but two late goals gave the scoreline an emphasis that belied the balance of the game.

Nonetheless if the service to inform striker Josh Kennedy is good the Karlsruhe striker will be confident of adding to his four international goals.

Beyond his obvious height advantage, Kennedy showed against a robust Dutch defence that he has movement and a good touch. His strength in holding the ball up will also take the pressure off his team-mates in defence.

"The Uzbeks play a similar formation, so for us to play against the Dutch in that kind of formation is a good practice for us," Kennedy said.

"We'll see video footage, the coach will point out stuff and show us how to play and what we've got to be aware of.

"We'll do that and hopefully get the points."

Having watched DVDs of every one of Uzbekistan's qualifiers so far, Verbeek expects it to play a 4-2-3-1 formation that will mirror Australia's.

Scott Chipperfield is likely to be the only change from the XI that started in Eindhoven, replacing David Carney, and Verbeek hinted that he will encourage his midfielders to make the breaks forward that created chances against the Dutch.

"Jason Culina is a player who usually has more attacking thoughts than defensive, and that always causes problems for the opposition," he said.

"You saw on Saturday he made a run and almost scored, and that's good for us.

"Qualification is all about the details, and that involves best using the qualities of your players and hiding the weaknesses," he said. "So far I think we have done it well."

A point would be a worthwhile return, though Verbeek knows that an Australian win would hole the Uzbeks' qualification hopes below the waterline.

With Qatar heading to Brisbane next month for part two of this serial, and then a trip to Bahrain in November, victory tonight would set up the prospect of Australia building an early group lead.

South Africa 201 may be almost two years away, but it's very much in focus already.

where no easybeats says Uzbekistan......


AUSTRALIA'S World Cup qualifying opponents Uzbekistan have warned they're not just "point suppliers" ahead of the crucial clash with the Socceroos in Tashkent.

The Uzbeks were regarded as the dark horses of a tough qualifying group, which also includes Japan, before the final stage of qualifying began last week.

But the former Soviet republic suffered a shock 3-0 defeat in their opener game of the group against Qatar on Saturday.

Despite the result, Uzbekistan coach Rauf Inliev believes his side is still in a strong position to challenge the Socceroos, who are seeded first in the group, when they clash early Thursday (SA time).

"It will be really tough to battle against strong rivals in the fourth qualifying round," said Inliev, who last year was named Asian Coach of the Year.

"But we're not going to be just points suppliers.

"We are serious. We have firm intention to gain a pass into the World Cup finals and we will do our best to fulfill our task."

The Uzbeki team's senior players confirmed their manager's intentions, saying they were ready for a serious battle for a place at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

"I believe we still can achieve a success," goalkeeper Ignaty Nesterov said.

"We all will do everything depending on us to reach the World Cup finals.

Playmaker Server Dzheparov added: "We set up a goal that we all want to achieve.

"It's a pride to play in the World Cup finals and we all want to be proud of ourselves."

Uzbekistan's danger man is their star striker Maxim Shatskikh, who has played eight seasons in the Champions League for Ukranian side Dynamo Kyiv.

He has scored 29 goals in 38 international appearances.

Dzheparov, the skipper of country's flagship side Bunyodkor is also in form and will serve creative duties in the central areas, with Hayrulla Karimov and Ilkhom Suyunov should form the backbone of their defence.

The Uzbeks have been given a financial incentive ahead of the clash at the Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium.

Uzbeki football federation president Mirabor Usmanov has offered his team around $A370,000 for every win during this stage with the promise of a "very pleasant surprise" if they clinch a pass to the World Cup finals.

The central Asian nation, which has a population of around 27 million, won the 1994 Asian title but has never reached the World Cup finals.

Ole

im nervous

Scott Chipperfield is likely to be the only change from the XI that started in Eindhoven, replacing David Carney, WELL DONE!!!

oleeeeeeeee

1 nill to the ozi's

1 nill to the ozi's

1 nill to the ozi's

as the roo's go marchin HO HO HO!

OLEEEEEEEEE

OLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

OLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

brisbane , here we come,

adelaide united an socceroos invasion in 3 days

october 15th an 17th 2008..........

your mad if yah miss it..........

1-0. I'll take it.
Not the best game I've watched, but a win is a win!

3 points is all that counts, away wins on the road to SA 2010 are critical, now we just need to keep the good work up for the game in Brissie...

AUSTRALIA plunged Uzbekistan further into the World Cup abyss with a 1-0 win to successfully launch their final Asian qualifying campaign for South Africa 2010.

FC Basel defender Scott Chipperfield's 26th-minute header grabbed all the points in Australia's first senior international with the Uzbeks, controlling the match through their experienced European brigade.

The loss heaped more pressure on Uzbekistan, who remain pointless after two games following their demoralising 3-0 loss to Qatar in Doha last weekend.

The Uzbeks' survival now hinges on their crucial away match against Japan in Saitama on October 15, while Australia’s next assignment is a home match against Qatar in Brisbane on the same night.

Chipperfield, playing in only his second international for 19 months, scored the winner with a free header in the 26th minute after a cross from right-back Luke Wilkshire.

He had the freedom to steer his downward header past goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov from just outside the six-yard box.

“The goal came at a good time for us and Bresciano also had a great chance to make it 2-0 before half-time, but in the end we got the three important points,'' Chipperfield said.

“You always want to get off to a good start in your first qualifying game so we are going to be confident heading into our next few qualifying games and it will be difficult for Uzbekistan now with two losses.''

Coach Pim Verbeek was delighted with the commitment of his Australian players in the intimidating atmosphere of the Pakhtakor stadium.

“Football-wise we have played better games, but if you look for the commitment and attitude of the boys and the way they worked hard for each other, I think they did a great job,'' Verbeek said.

The Uzbeks were largely disjointed throughout the match and well bossed by the Australian defence marshalled by West Ham United defender Lucas Neill.

Australia, attempting to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals through Asia for the first time, had a wonderful opportunity to double their lead in first half injury time through Palmero's Mark Bresciano.

Bresciano, sent clear on goal by Harry Kewell, could not hit the target in his one-on-one on Nesterov's goal with a chance that would have killed off the match.

Grosseto holding midfielder Carl Valeri picked up his second yellow card of the qualifying campaign to force him out of Australia's next World Cup game against Qatar.

Striker Maksim Shatskikh, held in check by the Australians, had what appeared a strong penalty appeal turned down by Kuwaiti referee Saad al Fadhli five minutes after half-time when he was brought down by Bresciano.

Uzbekistan put the Australian defence under greater pressure in the second half after a change of tactics and showed more urgency, but the Socceroos weathered the threat to securely see out the match.

Verbeek took off Bresciano for Sheffield United's David Carney in the 73rd minute for some fresh legs.

Carney minutes later missed a great chance to kill off the game on a break engineered by Harry Kewell only to limply run the ball out.

The Australians had a pre-match setback when key PSV Eindhoven midfielder Jason Culina withdrew with a stomach bug and was replaced by Jacob Burns.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 28,00.html

How Jacob Burns is in the squad is beyond me.

if moore actually does come out of retirement, i hope he is ready for the game in brissie. a great defence there

Scudetto8687 wrote:How Jacob Burns is in the squad is beyond me.

What makes you say that, I thought he played well, no Grella or Culina who else to play a holding midfield role?. As Pim said to the press after the game he played well and did a great job at such short notice. I reckon he could start in Brisbane.

good result! Probably only need to win our home games now to qualify!

well in lads

Important result. As Italy have shown in the past , you dont have to thrash the "lesser" sides to achieve the ultimate goal. 3 points, well done.

Bomber wrote:Important result. As Italy have shown in the past , you dont have to thrash the "lesser" sides to achieve the ultimate goal. 3 points, well done.

well said

bresciano shoulda made it 2 nil though!!! better teams will punish poor finishing like that