SYDNEY -- Australia beat New Zealand 4-1
on Sunday to win their two-leg Oceania World Cup playoff and
move towards a place in the 2002 finals in Japan and Korea.
The result gave Australia a 6-1 aggregate victory following
Wednesday's 2-0 first leg win in Wellington.
They will now play the fifth-placed South American team in a
two-leg playoff in November and December for a place in the
World Cup finals.
"We had a job to do today and we did it," said Australia
captain Paul Okon. "But it's not finished yet. We still have to
qualify for the World Cup."
Coach Frank Farina said: "I thought we controlled the game
from start to finish. We got four goals and probably could have
got a few more so I'd give it nine out of 10."
Australia have not reached the finals since 1974, although
they went desperately close to qualifying for the 1998 World Cup
only to go out on the away goal rule in a playoff against Iran.
They have been lobbying FIFA to give an automatic place in
the World Cup finals to the Oceania winner.
New Zealand coach Ken Dugdale said it was time soccer's
world governing body recognised Australia's achievements.
"If a team can go to the Confederations Cup like Australia
did and beat the likes of Brazil, France and Mexico in the space
of 10 days and without their top players then it just doesn't
seem right that FIFA can ignore their claims for direct entry,"
Dugdale said.
"I Think they're a very good team and they can go all the
way."
German-based striker David Zdrilic scored in each half on
Sunday, while Brett Emerton and John Aloisi also found the net
to give the Australians an easy win despite the absence of Leeds
United pair Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka.
Australia scored 72 goals to one in their six Oceania
qualifying matches but their defence was breached for the first
time by New Zealand striker Vaughan Coveny who scored from the
penalty spot three minutes before halftime.
Zdrilic put Australia ahead in the sixth minute when he
drilled the ball past New Zealand's outstretched goalkeeper
Jason Batty from the edge of the penalty box.
Emerton, who plays for Dutch club Feyenoord, made it 2-0
when he threaded his way through the defence and slid the ball
past Batty with a low left-foot drive.
New Zealand had not scored against Australia in World Cup
qualifiers since 1989 but managed to pull one back when
Australian defender Tony Vidmar fouled Jonathan Perry inside the
box and Korean referee Jong Chul-Kwon pointed to the spot.
Australia, playing in front of an enthusiastic crowd of
42,000 at Sydney's Olympic Stadium, restored their two-goal lead
just before the hour mark when Coventry City striker Aloisi
tapped in from an Emerton cross that Zdrillic headed down.
Zdrillic grabbed his second seven minutes from time.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights
reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or
delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.