Glory for Socceroos as Troisi sinks Korea in extra time

Australia completed a dream run at the AFC Asian Cup by overcoming Korea Republic 2-1 after extra time in the final at Stadium Australia on Saturday night to be crowned champion in front of a delirious home crowd of 76,385.

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Mile Jedinak and the Socceroos celebrate their Asian Cup triumph Source: Getty Images

Goals from the excellent Massimo Luongo at the end of the first half and substitute Troisi in the 105th minute did the trick for the Socceroos on an historic night for Australian football as it overcame the heartbreak of losing the final to Japan in 2011.

Australia's breakthough moment in an absorbing final arrived in the 44th minute as Luongo, the standout player in a gold jersey throughout the tournament, spun on to a pass from the impressive Trent Sainsbury on the edge of the area, and turned smartly to fire off a stinging drive which flew past goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyeon to ignite the sellout home crowd.

It was Luongo's second goal of the tournament and underlined his emergence as one of his country's rising stars.

The game opened up after the break as the Red Devils turned up the tempo and its reward came in the second minute of stoppage time when Son Heung-Min burst into the area to take a pass from Ki Sung-Yueng and then steer his shot past Socceroos keeper Mat Ryan.
But Troisi popped up the winner at the end of the first period of extra-time, firing high into the net after fellow substitute Tomi Juric had somehow wriggled his way into the box and cut the ball back into his path.

Korea Republic, which was targeting a third Asian Cup triumph, had beaten Australia 1-0 in the group stages but it was the home side who came close to breaking the deadlock after nine minutes through a Mile Jedinak free-kick, which found a route past goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyeon but dipped on to the roof of the net.

A scrappy spell of play ensued but things improved after 24 minutes when Kwak Tae-hwi headed a free-kick from Ki Sung-yueng just past the post.

The Socceroos responded within minutes as Robbie Kruse played the ball into the path of TIm Cahill, but the former Everton man saw his shot denied by Kim.
The match was offering plenty of entertainment now and the Koreans had their best chance of the half after 37 minutes through Son, who tried his luck on the volley and missed his target by inches.

And Australia took full advantage of the let-off on the stroke of half-time when Luongo was teed up by Sainsbury before turning and firing a spectacular 25-yard bullet into the bottom corner.

The Koreans turned up the heat early in the second half but their opponents' defence held firm as Lee Jung-hyup and Park Joo-ho wasted chances to equalise.
And they were almost caught on the break on the hour, with Kruse supplying Mathew Leckie for a powerful drive which had to be helped over the bar by Kim.

That merely served to spur Korea on, although the final ball proved disappointing on more than one occasion while a free-kick from Son sailed high of the mark.

Time was running out for the Koreans, who began pumping long balls into the box in a bid to get the goal they so badly needed.

And that goal arrived two minutes into stoppage time from Son, who darted into the area before slipping the ball past Ryan in the Australia net and sending the match into extra-time.

The pace dropped thereafter as legs began to tire and that may have been a factor in Jedinak shooting wide when well-placed to turn in the rebound from Kim's punched clearance after 100 minutes.

The tournament hosts fared much better 10 minutes later, though, when Kim again tried to clear a cross from  Juric but the ball went only as far as Troisi, who slammed the return home to send the crowd into raptures.

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4 min read
Published 31 January 2015 6:34pm
Updated 1 February 2015 2:00am

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