Australia held to draw in searing heat of Oman

An indifferent Australia escaped the relentless heat of Muscat with a goalless draw against Oman in their World Cup qualifying match yesterday.

The Socceroos were second best for long periods in the Group B fourth-round clash played in temperatures peaking at 35 degrees Celsius. Oman had been outclassed in losing their opening fixture 3-0 away to Japan on Sunday but Paul Le Guen’s side played with much more confidence as they pressured their opponents for large parts of the match.

Australia had named a defensive starting line-up with forward Harry Kewell up front on his own. But he, like many of his team-mates, struggled in the heat during the match. The sun shone bright at 5pm local time, much to the ire of Australia coach Holger Osieck who had questioned the kick-off time.

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Australia will be seeking a much improved display in their second match of the group on Tuesday at home to Asian champions Japan, who thrashed Jordan 6-0 earlier on Friday to make it two wins from two.

Meanwhile, New Zealand, who held Italy to a 1-1 draw at the 2010 World Cup finals, suffered the lows of international football when they were surprisingly dumped out of the Oceania Nations Cup, losing 2-0 to New Caledonia in the semi-finals. The All Whites, fielding a first-choice side, were undone by goals from Bertrand Kai in the 60th minute and Georges Gope-Fenepej in added time. New Caledonia, 155th in the FIFA rankings, will now meet Tahiti in the final tomorrow.