Australia Cruise to opening Victory against India

Australia defeat India 4-0 in their opening match

The Qantas Socceroos got off to a perfect start in their Asian Cup campaign after beating India 4-0 in the Group C opener. Three first half goals were enough to bury the Indian side, whilst the Aussies sent out a message of intent to the other tournament contenders.

Tim Cahill was of course outstanding in attack and it took just 11 minutes for him to make his mark on the game. Emerton-s pin-point cross from the right flank was powered into the top of the net from close range by a buoyant Tim Cahill.

The second again involved another two Australian names famous throughout the world of football, when Wilkshire and Kewell combined. The right back Wilkshire moved forward in his typically attacking full-back style when he pulled the ball back to be in the perfect position for striker Harry Kewell to hit.

Kewell obliged by lashing a left foot strike past the helpless Indian ‘keeper from just outside the area. Australia then went on to completely boss the game from front to back and their superior technical ability was obvious for all to see.

The 116 places between the two sides in the FIFA rankings became more evident as Australia went in search of a third. The threatening Australian attack mounted continuous pressure on the Indian defence, the only respite coming in the form of a Steven Dias volley, which didn-t really trouble Mark Schwarzer in the Aussie goal.

However the game was effectively put to bed before half time, when another excellent Emerton cross was headed home by Brett Holman. The bullet header again giving the impressive Indian ‘keeper no chance as it hit the back of the net.

The fourth came after a confident start to the second half from the Qantas Socceroos and when the ever-impressive Tim Cahill grabbed his second goal of the match it looked like the scoreline could start to be embarrassing for the Indians.

Just after the hour mark a trademark Wilkshire free-kick found Cahill who buried a header past the diving Subrata.

The gulf in the scoreline in Doha could-ve been far greater if it wasn-t for the efforts of the ‘keeper Subrata Pal who pulled off several impressive saves to keep Australia-s tally down and it seemed that they might even pull one back when striker Chhetri came close in the 84th minute.

It wasn-t to be though and Australia kept a valuable clean sheet, which could be important at the end of the group stage. Their next opposition will be a much sterner test though when they take on South Korea in the early hours of Saturday morning AEDT.

Should be a more interesting game between two of the more likely teams who will be mounting a serious challenge in the tournament.

Australia take on South Korea next on 15th January at 1215am AEDT before their final group match against Bahrain on the 19th January again at 1215am AEDT.

For all the latest fixtures and results keep up to date on the FFA Fixtures & Results section of the website.