Kewell lights up for Socceroos
June 01, 2008

HARRY Kewell's five-star performance and second-half winner steered Australia to a 1-0 win over Iraq and within sight of the next stage of World Cup qualifying.

Club-less Kewell was at his electrifying best for his country, heading home from a Brett Emerton cross in the 47th minute to give his side victory in their Asian Group A clash at Suncorp Stadium.

The former Liverpool midfielder played as a striker and was in everything as Australia consolidated top spot in the group.

But the Socceroos weathered plenty of nervous moments against the Asian champions.

Two important Mark Schwarzer saves were vital – the second denying Hawar Mulla Mohammed an equaliser with seven minutes left.

Iraq had the better of the opening 45 minutes but missed three golden opportunities to score and silence the near-50,000 crowd.

Midfielder Emad Mohammed hit the crossbar after just four minutes, then forced goalkeeper Schwarzer into a block with his legs from close range on 27 minutes.

Iraq's star striker Younis Mahmoud had the best chance of the half – fluffing an open header and putting it wide when unmarked after 36 minutes.

Kewell made the Iraqis pay for their wastefulness two minutes after half-time when he arrived to meet Emerton's cross from the right.

The only blemish on Kewell's night was missing a close-range sitter in the 66th minute and he left the field to a deserved standing ovation with 15 minutes remaining.

But as Kewell departed and Australia moved into defensive mode, Iraq lifted a gear with several late chances to square.

Hawar's chance was the best, but a clearance that bounced off Mahmoud's knee and just wide in the 82nd minute was also too close for comfort.

The Socceroos also had to endure the tiresome efforts of two pitch invaders inside the final minutes; they were embarrassingly able to remain on the field for a couple of minutes before security managed to remove them.

Australia now have seven points from three matches and need to finish top two in the group to move to the next stage of Asian qualifying later this year.

That could be secured as early as their next qualifier against Iraq in Dubai on Saturday.