A horror mistake by Milos Degenek has ended Australia's Asian Cup campaign.

The Socceroos lost 1-0 to host nation UAE on Friday at a packed Hazza Bin Mohammed Stadium despite dominating the clash.

Degenek's short backpass in the 68th minute allowed UAE striker Ali Mabkhout to nip in and round Mat Ryan before slotting into an empty net.

That mistake was enough to put the hosts into a semi-final showdown with Gulf rivals Qatar and eliminate Graham Arnold's men.

Australia were much-improved on their at-times sluggish display in the round-of-16 clash with Uzbekistan and appeared to have the match in hand before Degenek's error.

Just moments before birthday boy Apostolos Giannou, starting up front alongside Jamie Maclaren in a revamped line up, thought he'd put the Socceroos ahead.

The Cyprus-based striker combined with Mathew Leckie to slot home in the 63rd minute but the effort was ruled out with Leckie offside in the build up.

The first half was probably the most open Australia have been involved in at the tournament.

Buoyed on by their home fans, the UAE made a barnstorming start with Ismail Alhammadi particularly dangerous down the left.

Australia had their chances too, with Trent Sainsbury heading well over despite being completely unmarked from a corner in the fifth minute.

UAE came closest to scoring when Mark Milligan was caught in possession in the 21st minute and the hosts worked the ball to Alhammadi but his strike was well blocked by Ryan.

Giannou's clever turn in the 40th minute led to a snapshot on goal but Khalid Bilal's diving save kept the effort out.

Australia nearly fell behind right on the stroke of halftime but Mabkhout's header from a near-post flick-on was fired over the bar.

The striker had the last laugh, however, when he intercepted Degenek's pass to score the winner.

Australia poured forward in the dying minutes but couldn't force an equaliser to the delight of the 25,053 fans inside the Al Ain stadium.

The UAE now take on Qatar in Tuesday's semi-final in Abu Dhabi with Japan and Iran to play in the other last four clash.

Take a look back at how the action unfolded in our live blog.

Live updates Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:32pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:32pm By Simon Smale Australia out of the Asian Cup Well we might as well wrap things up here. Thank you so much for joining me over the past couple of night shifts, despite the disappointing outcome this morning it has been a pleasure to take you through all the action as it happened. Don't forget to check back in later once you've had a nap for our full analysis of where the Socceroos go from here. I'm off to ponder where it all went wrong for Graham Arnold and his band of merry men, but if you are heading off to bed like a normal person should do, try to think of the positives.

Good morning and happy Australia Day weekend to everyone. Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:31pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:31pm Audience comment by Rob Arnold not good enough the first time so why appoint him the second. Some crucial players left out the squad Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:26pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:26pm Audience comment by Seyhan Socceroos dominated every game at the thought but lack of quality in the final third is the issue. Same as at the World Cup. Will the A League produce players to remedy this for next round of WC qualifiers? I think not. Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:19pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:19pm Audience comment by Honest John well again as Australian we have unrealistically high expectations of some green and gold teams. Surprisingly there are higher quality teams out there sometimes. Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:08pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:08pm By Simon Smale Jackson Irvine is talking after the match. "Yeah obviously it's tough to take. It's hard to wrap your emotions around it so soon after the game." Irvine said the thought the Socceroos did enough, and that it came down to that one moment when Degenek fluffed his back pass. "We win as a team and loose as a team. We will stick together and deal with the criticism when it comes." Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:04pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:04pm Audience comment by Simon We could have played for another 90 minutes and we still wouldn't have scored. This Socceroos team just isn't good enough. Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:04pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:04pm Audience comment by Edward Australia have been poor throughout the tournament, despite the injuries. Does the manager deserve to keep his job? Doubtful. Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:04pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 6:04pm By Simon Smale Well what are your thought about that? Obvious disappointment for the Socceroos, who have failed to ignite in this tournament as a whole. By far the better team on the night as well, but not good enough to put the ball in the back of the net. Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:57pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:57pm By Simon Smale FULL TIME!



THE SOCCEROOS ARE OUT AP Jubliation for the hosts, disaster for the reigning champions. It was just the solitary goal that decided it, despite the weight of pressure the Socceroos applied, but unfortunately there was not enough quality in the final third and they simply did not challenge the 'keeper enough. The UAE head to the semi finals to take on Qatar. Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:57pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:57pm By Simon Smale 90+10' | Matt Ryan is in the attacking half with a long ball and GRANT HAS A SWIPE AT ONE, but misses wide left with a driven shot from the edge of the area. UAE 1-0 Australia Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:56pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:56pm By Simon Smale 90+9' | This is remarkable. There are three players - all from the UAE, sprawled around the ground with an assortment of ailments, including the keeper Essa. The Socceroos have a throw that will be put into the mixer but we have now had 10 minutes of added time. UAE 1-0 Australia Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:55pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:55pm By Simon Smale 90+8' | ANOTHER CHANCE! Mabil whips a cross in towards Sainsbury who is still leaping impossibly high but the keeper Essa comes out with a big left fist to punch the ball clear. UAE 1-0 Australia Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:54pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:54pm By Simon Smale 90+7' | A bit of frustration as Irvine tries to help a UAE player to his feet, and gets a caution for his troubles as the crowd noise cracks up another notch. A long throw comes in, but UAE clear. UAE 1-0 Australia Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:53pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:53pm By Simon Smale 90+6' | Long ball from Mabil towards Leckie, but he air swings at it and the ball goes behind. A lack of composure. UAE 1-0 Australia Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:52pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:52pm By Simon Smale 90+4' | We've had the four minutes, but it was all for treatment, so we should got to eight here... Should being the operative word. UAE 1-0 Australia Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:51pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:51pm By Simon Smale 20 shots for 2 on target from the Aussies. Just not good enough!



-Jimmy That's a damning statistic. Not enough quality up top unfortunately for the Socceroos. Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:50pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:50pm Audience comment by Peter I have never seen Australia go to a tournament and not say "We need more attacking strike power". Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:50pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:50pm By Simon Smale 90' | Four minutes will be added on but there has been a nasty clash of heads between Mathew Leckie and Ismaeel Ahmed. This will add a little bit extra on the clock, but that's nasty, a fair bit of claret and the host's defender may have been knocked out there.

Will they need to see out the game with ten men the UAE? Leckie has a Terry Butcher style head bandage on and will continue, but I can't see how Ismaeel Ahmed can. He was stone cold when he hit the deck and there is a lot of concern being shown. UAE 1-0 Australia Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:47pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:47pm By Simon Smale 89' | Mabil has tried plenty since he has come on, but you have to question the wisdom of that shot from long range, it's distance from the target matched only by how far it missed the target. UAE 1-0 Australia Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:45pm Fri Friday 25 Jan January 2019 at 5:45pm By Simon Smale 88' | The UAE are making their final sub of the night. There has been a ridiculously long delay while Ismaeel Alhamdi is taken off the field on a stretcher. Time really running out now for the Socceroos. UAE 1-0 Australia Show more posts

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