Saudi Arabia spoiled Australia's homecoming party by holding the Socceroos to a 0-0 draw yesterday and retaining their three-point advantage over their hosts at the top of Group B of Asian qualifying for the football World Cup. The Saudis rode their luck at times in the first 75 minutes but had a flurry of chances towards the end of the contest to snatch a victory and extend their winning streak to 10 matches. "Obviously we wanted the three points to give to the fans, it's been so long," said Australia captain Mathew Leckie. "But we had a great performance and we were just centimeters away from scoring a couple of goals." Restrictions put in place to contain Covid-19 had kept Australia on the road since late 2019 and they had hoped the crowd would help them bounce back from a loss to Japan.

Source: The Standard November 11, 2021 22:25 UTC