Australia lost 1-0 to Saudi Arabia as the third leg of the Asian World Cup qualifiers came to a disappointing end for the Australian national team and added pressure on Graham Arnold, fox sports.
The unmanned Australian team first handed over to Nathaniel Atkinson and substitute Nicholas D'agostino in Jeddah, but was undone by Salim Al Dossari's second-half penalty to suffer a third defeat in the group, australia vs saudi arabia, Tottenham beat Newcastle 5-1.
That means Australia have won just one of their past seven qualifiers as the June play-off against the UAE approaches, with speculation continuing to build that Arnold is unlikely to be in charge of that match.
FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers
The green Hawks, already confirmed in the Qatar 2022 qualifiers when Australia lost 2-0 at home to Japan last week, topped the group with 23 points with their first World Cup win over Australia.
They were eight points behind the Australian national team.
Despite the absence of several key players including Tom Rogic, Aaron Mooy, Matthew Leckie, Jackson Irvine, Jamie McLaren and Harry Soutar, Australia had better chances in the first half.
With Atkinson making his debut at right-back, Arnold also handed over the beginnings of midfielder Denis ginro and striker Bruno Fornaroli, while Gianni steinsnes moved to central defence in the absence of Milos dejnik.
2022 World Cup Qualifiers - Australia VS Saudi Arabia
Oyer Mabel and Martin Boyle came close to opening the scoring and it was the Scottish-born winger Boyle who thought he had found the opener in the 36th minute, Kylian Mbappe addresses PSG future after Ligue 1 win.
A defensive pass by Adjin Hrustic released Boyle who sprinted clear and rounded the Saudi goalkeeper before landing at home, but his celebrations were interrupted when the assistant referee learned of the sneak.
After a four-minute VAR review, the decision was upheld despite replays suggesting Boyle was too close to be on the side when he started his career.
Mabel fired a dangerous shot that had to be passed over the crossbar in the second half, but the Australian enterprise failed when James Jeju was penalised for a clumsy flight on Sami Al-Naji inside the penalty area in the 62nd minute.
Australia lose to Saudi Arabia 1-0 in qualifiers
Dossary stepped up to send Matthew Ryan the wrong way and give the hosts the lead.
Encouraged, the hosts finished the match with a stronger team and it was only a few clever saves from Ryan that denied Saudi Arabia a second goal.
Attention now turns to the sudden-death match against the UAE, where the winner of that match will face the fifth-placed South American nation for a place in the World Cup.
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