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A courageous comeback places Australia at the top of a group of which they previously sat at the bottom. Playing with a man down, the Socceroos fought through over 70 minutes of game play, not with the aim of trying to minimise their defeat, but eyeing a win.
In the 17th minute, Socceroos defender Rhys Williams was shown the red card for a soft but devastating foul as the last man in defence. Whilst Australian goal keep Mark Schwarzer saved the initial shot from the resulting penalty, Oman was able to follow through and convert the penalty off the goal keeper's deflection.
The situation left the Socceroos a goal down, and a man down, on foreign soil, with the bulk of the match yet to be played. A reshuffle of the players appeared to be working well when Australia levelled the match at 1 - 1 before half time.
What could have easily been a defensive second half by the Socceroos turned out to be an aggressive one. Oman had their chances, however it was Socceroo Carney who lost his defender on the left flank and found Brett Emerton with a perfect cross across the face of goal. Few players in international football could have scored with the power, accuracy, timing and calmness demonstrated by Brett Emerton's half volley into the back of the net to seal the 2-1 win for Australia and take them to the top of their Asian Cup qualifying group.
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