June 22, 2008

AUSTRALIA coach Pim Verbeek felt his young side had let down an ANZ stadium crowd of more than 70,000 after losing 1-0 to China in a World Cup qualifying dead rubber.

With Australia having already reached the next stage of qualification and China out of contention, coach Pim Verbeek rested key senior players and fielded a side dominated by under-23s players ahead of August's Beijing Games.

China, eager to restore national pride, fielded a strong senior squad and it paid dividends with defender Sun Xiang scoring a stunning 20-metre goal in the 12th minute for the win.

The Socceroos failed to make the most of their chances and their inexperience was evident at times in defence, although Verbeek still took plenty out of positives from the loss.

But he was more disappointed at not being able to entertain a huge crowd that had turned up for a game that essentially didn't mean a thing.

“If there were no fans in the stand I literally would be very happy with this game,” Verbeek said.

“But we have 70,000 people in the stands and they want to see more chances, they want us to score goals.

“They want to see at least a result and that is what we didn't show.”

The Chinese could have won 2-0 and thought they had in the 77th minute, when Charlton midfielder Zheng Zhi converted a soft penalty called on Socceroos right back Ruben Zadkovich.

But the referee ordered a retake for early encroachment in the box and Zheng fired his second shot wide, much to the enjoyment of the 70,054 fans.

The Socceroos had their fair share of chances with captain Harry Kewell again in fine touch in his last match before deciding his club future, with a move to Italian giants Roma reportedly on the cards.

Kewell, who denied links to Roma, made no excuses for the loss, saying he knew what his young teammates were capable of having trained up close.

But with qualification sealed, he turned his attention to the next phase starting September, with the draw to be announced in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

“It's going to be tough but we're prepared for that,” Kewell said.

“I'm looking forward to it and the draw to know who we're playing again and I'm pretty sure we'll have a strong squad out there and things will be different (from this result).”

Verbeek said he expected to have Tim Cahill and possibly striker Mark Viduka back in his squad at some point during the next phase.

There were no real chances before Xiang stunned the crowd when he controlled a failed Zadkovich clearance and unleashed an unstoppable curling drive which sailed in the top left of the net.

Australia had a handful of chances to equalise, with Bruce Djite, Carl Valeri and Mile Jedinak all going close on several occasions, but they were never able to turn a good share of possession into a lead.

Danish-based striker David Williams earned his first cap as a substitute, with Neil Kilkenny and Kristian Sarkies also subbed on late in the match.

Australia are still almost certain to top the qualifying group on goal difference, with either Iraq or Qatar also set to progress after they play overnight.

China coach Vladomir Petrovic, after his final match as coach, was blunt about the importance of the win but expected Australia to do well in the next phase.

“This victory is not very important to us because already lost in qualification for the World Cup,” the Serb said.