Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Sydney, SANA – Syria lost to Australia 2-1 in the most nerve-wracking match in the second leg of the World Cup 2018 qualifying play-off in Sydney.
The Syrian national football team, who had a win and two draws in qualify, was very close to play on the biggest stage of international football for the first time in its history.
The Syrian footballers showed an impressive performance against their Australian counterparts, with whom they tied 1-1 in a match held in the Malaysian city of Melaka in the first leg of the qualifying play-off on October 5.
Omar al-Soumeh scored the first goal in the match at the 6th minute of the game. Seven minutes later, Tim Cahill scored Australia’s first goal.
The game went into extra time, whereby Cahill scored a 109 m goal, making use of the Syrian team’s player miss after Mahmoud al-Mawas was sent out of the match right after receiving a red card.
After so many unsuccessful attempts to score, Syria’s Omar al-Soumer won a free direct kick with seconds remaining, but the ball hit the post.
Tens of thousands of Syrians at home watched the game on giant screens setup for this specific event, cheering for the Syrian team that was on the way to achieve the dream of making it through to the World Cup.
A ten thousand Syrian and Arab fans also cheered for the Syrian national team at ANZ Stadium in Sydney waving the Syrian flags and chanting slogans in support of the Syrian footballers.
H. Said
