Australia’s Asian Cup dreams were crushed at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, as a resolute United Arab Emirates condemned the Socceroos to a 1-0 defeat in Al Ain.

Milos Degenek’s under-hit back-pass was the unfortunate deciding moment in the game, with Ali Mabkhout latching onto it before rounding Mat Ryan and finishing into an empty net. Degenek’s error proved decisive, but it seems unfair to focus on one player in such an abject team performance.

Socceroos manager Graham Arnold chose to reflect on how Degenek has grown after going from World Cup squad player into a starter who he believes “will have a long future with the Australian national team”.

Degenek was less philosophical, he told Fox Sports Australia: “We didn’t go through because of me. I let the team down, the boys down, the country down. It’s a shit situation. It’s fucked.”

This match felt like a return to the scene of the crime. It occurred in the same stadium as the group stage lost to Jordan. It was a strangely anti-climactic ending to a strange Asian Cup campaign, plagued by an attack unable to put organised defences under sustained pressure.

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Socceroos manager Graham Arnold had spoken about this tournament being part of a ‘four-year plan’, but that will do little to curb the imminent criticism of a campaign that will be deservedly condemned as a failure.

“This is the fifth game in a row we controlled,” Arnold said. “It’s football. It can be a cruel sport. It is the only sport in the world that you can control possession, have more chances, spend more time in opposition half, and still lose.”

A helter-skelter opening phase which promised an exciting match eventually turned into a slow, tactical affair. Ismail Alhammadi’s should have put the hosts ahead after breezing by Trent Sainsbury in the very first minute, but Mat Ryan stood tall to parry away a shot directed at his chest. Sainsbury had his own glorious chance to open the scoring moments later, but his free header ballooned over the crossbar and into orbit.

The Emiratis reverted to the defensive style previously utilised by Uzbekistan and Jordan to nullify Australia’s attacking threat, while the Socceroos once again struggled to combat it despite maintain the lion’s share of possession. Australia, lacking the creativity of the suspended Tom Rogic, struggled to move the ball through central midfield. Slow and safe was the order of the day, with passes moving from one side of defence to the other as the UAE organised itself behind the ball.

“[I’m] not using excuses because the boys did fantastic,but we missed [Daniel] Arzani and [Martin] Boyle playing against teams with packed defences,” Arnold explained.

Attacking from set-pieces quickly became both teams’ main threat. Ali Mabkhout will wonder how he skied an open header in first-half stoppage time, while Australia created a vast percentage of their own chances through the exquisite corner delivery of Chris Ikonomidis. His team-mates were unable to reward him with the assist he deserved.

Mabkhout’s opportunistic goal in the 68th minute did little to change the complexion of the game but highlighted that even in attacking desperation, throwing waves of players forward, the Australians were still unable to craft any meaningful attempts on goal. Mathew Leckie and Awer Mabil were introduced into the game with the Socceroos craving a spark, but they too struggled to find openings.

The loud, intimidating atmosphere inside the stadium seemed to deflate Australia in the latter stages against the tournament hosts. A few long-range misses were met with roars of joy as the UAE ran down the clock to set up a semi-final against Qatar, who shocked South Korea in Friday’s quarter-final.

Reflecting on the tournament, in keeping with his four-year plan rhetoric, Arnold described the journey as “a valuable experience” for a young Socceroos squad.

The Socceroos players will now return to their clubs, while Arnold will be left to conduct a post-mortem on his team and especially the one-dimensional way his side performed going forward. Fans will feel underwhelmed by a set of underwhelming performances by a team that never hit full stride.

Son heading back to Spurs as Qatar send South Korea out

Qatar’s Abdulaziz Hatem scored with a stunning late strike to send the 2022 World Cup hosts to their first Asian Cup semi-final – and hand Mauricio Pochettino an unexpected boost in the process.

South Korea’s shock defeat means that Son Heung-min will be heading back from the Gulf sooner than expected – and could feasibly feature for Tottenham in Wednesday’s Premier League game against Watford.

Hatem’s goal came out of the blue in the 78th minute, the defensive midfielder firing past South Korea goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu with his left foot to settle a largely drab contest at Zayed Sport City in Abu Dhabi.

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South Korea poured forward to try and rescue the match but were unable to produce an equaliser as the Qataris advanced to face the hosts, United Arab Emirates, for a place in the final.



“We’ve achieved something special today, this is history for us,” said Qatar coach Felix Sánchez. “We played a great game, the players made a huge effort and we achieved something great for our country. I’m the happiest coach in the world.”