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Syria’s unlikely 2018 World Cup dream is over after Australia progressed to the final qualifying round courtesy of Tim Cahill’s extra-time header.
Omar Al Somah gave the civil war-torn nation hope of reaching Russia when he gave them an early lead in Sydney.
But Cahill, 37, quickly equalised with the first of his two headed goals.
Syria, who drew 1-1 in the first leg, were reduced to 10 men when Mahmoud Al Mawas was sent off before Cahill nodded in Robbie Kruse’s cross for the winner.
Australia will now play either Panama, Honduras or the USA for a place in the finals.
A loose Mark Milligan pass in midfield let Al Somah charge through to score Syria’s sixth-minute opener with a low left-footed shot.
But Hertha Berlin winger Mathew Leckie, 26, engineered parity for the hosts when he provided the perfect cross for former Everton midfielder Cahill’s first on 13 minutes.
The Socceroos took control thereafter but Syria defended resolutely and got to extra time, but their task became harder when Al Mawas saw red for a second booking for bringing down Kruse.
Yet even a man down, the visitors almost took the tie to penalties when Al Somah’s free kick hit the post in the 121st minute.
Syria arrived at the ANZ stadium dreaming of making their first World Cup finals, but Australia’s greater attacking options ultimately proved crucial.
The introduction of Huddersfield Town midfielder Aaron Mooy from the bench was pivotal.
Australia manager Ange Postecoglou surprisingly left the 27-year-old out of his starting line-up, but the home side were instantly improved when he came on just before their equaliser.
It was only Syria goalkeeper Ibrahim Almeh’s heroics that denied Celtic’s Tom Rogic and Leckie from sealing Australia’s progress in the second half.
But with penalties looming, Cahill produced a trademark last-gasp header, his 50th goal for Australia – more than any other player for the country.
We keep working until we can’t anymore – Milligan
Socceroos and Melbourne Victory midfielder Milligan hailed the work ethic of Cahill and the rest of the team as they took a step closer to Russia 2018.
“Timmy (Cahill) worked outstandingly. That is something we have in us. We work until we cannot anymore,” said Milligan.
“I didn’t mean to give it away (before Syria’s goal). It was a loose pass. I could have hit it a bit harder but they punished us with the quality in their striker.
“The longer the game went on, we had a good stranglehold on it. They fought with everything, they were outstanding and gave us an extremely tough match on our home soil.
“The next round will be a different match, we will have a different challenge on our hands.”
Syria comes to a stand-still to watch
Syrian state TV broadcasting was dominated by coverage of the country’s match against Australia.
It aired special programming with live footage of huge crowds in Damascus’s Umayyad Square, Aleppo, Homs and Sweida.
Shadi Helweh, usually the channel’s war correspondent and who famously covered the landmark recapture of the city by government forces in December last year, reported on the huge crowds in Aleppo.