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Australia lost in a shoot-out to hosts Uzbekistan and missed out on place at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup later this year.
The width of a crossbar was all it took to dash the dreams of Australia’s next generation.
One penalty missed in a shootout in fronmt of a partisan home crowd in the Uzbek city of Tashkent meant the Young Socceroos were eliminated from the AFC Under-20 Asian Cup, and missed out on a place at the World Cup later this year.
Sydney FC winger Adrian Segecic – outstanding for the Young Socceroos throughout the tournament – struck the crossbar with Australia’s fifth and final penalty, after the hosts Uzbekistan and Australia had fought to a deadlock, drawing 1-1 after extra time.
Though Australia had taken the lead after 77 minutes they were pinned back almost immediately by an equaliser for a home side backed raucously by a 33,000-strong crowd.
Uzbekistan now qualify for the U20 World Cup in May, while the Young Socceroos have to turn the bitter disappointment into future motivation.
The Milliy Stadium in Tashkent can be added to the catalogue of heartbreak scenes in Australian football, but Young Socceroos coach Trevor Morgan could only praise his side.
The Young @Socceroos Asia Cup run is over 🇦🇺
Trevor Morgan's side was just a penalty shootout away from advancing against competition hosts Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 pic.twitter.com/mt7NcnmNJS
“I feel bitterly disappointed for us, our players gave everything,” he said.
“We had a lot of belief in the squad and played in a way that we could have won the match and progressed to the World Cup.”
For a few seconds Gabriel Popovic’s close-range conversion following a corner allowed Australia to dream of stunning the home crowd, but theyhad spent much of the second half on the back foot, and their defence was quickly breached by Abdirakhmatov Zafarmurod.
Segecic came close to a stunning winner in extratime while Uzbekistan hit the crossbar just before the end. It took penalties, and one player’s marginal miss, to separate the teams.
Nectarios Triantis, Archie Goodwin, Joshua Rawlins and Alex Badolato all scored in the shootout, leaving Segecic knowing he had to score. When he didn’t, Umarali Rahmonaliev took the chance to win it.
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