Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
London: Tim Cahill bagged a brace to become Australia’s all-time international goal scorer but the veteran forward still ended up on the losing side as a spectacular second-half comeback saw Ecuador come from 3-0 down to win Wednesday’s friendly 4-3.
Eight minutes into the match at The Den – home of Millwall where Cahill began his professional career – headed home the opening goal to take his international tally to a record-breaking 30.
The New York Red Bulls star was wrestled to the ground in the area by Gabriel Achilier allowing Mile Jedinak to mark his appointment as Socceroos’ skipper with a 16th minute penalty before Cahill grabbed his 31st goal in the ‘green and gold’ in the 32nd minute as the Socceroos took a commanding 3-0 lead courtesy of a diving header from the 34-year-old.
Ecuador were a different proposition in the second-half and reduced the deficit in the 57th minute through Fidel Martinez before the South Americans were given a numerical edge just 60 seconds later when Langerak, a half-time replacement for Mat Ryan, received his marching orders for a scything challenge on Enner Valencia.
Brad Jones became the third Socceroos’ keeper of the match and his first action was retrieve the ball from the back of the net after the being unable to prevent Segundo Castillo making it 3-2 from the resulting penalty.
Ecuador pulled level when Valencia put the finishing touch on a 78th minute counter-attack and would go on to complete their phenomenal comeback in stoppage-time when an error from debutant Alex Wilkinson allowed substitute Edison Mendez to seal the win.
Australia coach Ange Postecoglou put a brave face on the loss, preferring to focus on the positives rather than the disappointment of surrendering a three-goal lead.
“Going down to 10 men against a quality opponent was always going to be tough for us,’’ the former Melbourne Victory coach told reporters.
“But up until that point, it just reaffirmed my belief in the direction we’re heading.
“I was really happy with our shape in that first half and the way the team were able to play the kind of football we wanted to.
“We were really bright and positive and every time we got the ball we tried to find little angles for ourselves. It was exciting to see .It was definitely a step forward.”
Australia face South Africa in Sydney on May 26 in their final match on home soil before heading to Brazil, where they will meet Spain and the Netherlands, winners and runners up at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and Chile in the group phase of the 2014 finals.
Photo: AFP