Australia, incredibly, have just two points from three World Cup qualifying matches. They have another five matches left to play in Group B of AFC qualifying, but they're in serious danger of missing the World Cup after their awful performance on Tuesday. Not only did they lose away to Jordan, a team that has just one player who plays professionally outside of the Middle East, but they were thoroughly outplayed in a 2-1 loss.
Jordan Vs. Australia, 2014 World Cup Qualifying: Final Score 2-1, Socceroos Abysmal
Odai Al-Saify was Jordan's best performer, drawing a penalty and assisting on a later goal. He drew a foul in the box on Mile Jedinak in the 47th minute, and Hassan Abdel-Fattah buried the spot kick. Australia had most of the ball from then until the end of the match, but struggled to pressure the Jordan goal and only forced Amer Shafia into a couple of saves, none of which were too difficult. In the 75th minute, they hit Australia with a stellar counter-attack, finished off by Amer Deeb, who turned in a cutback ball by Al-Saify after a brilliant run.
The Socceroos never looked like scoring until the 86th minute, when substitute Archie Thompson fired his team back into the match, assisted by Adam Baroque with a nice touch on the edge of the penalty area. Australia pushed forward for an equalizer, but it never came Jordan defended brilliantly for the rest of the match to hold on to the victory.
Jordan now have four points and sit second in Group B behind Japan, who are all but assured of a World Cup berth. Iraq, Australia and Oman are all tied behind them on two points.
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