Australia 2-2 Croatia (2006)
By Conor Hogan
Australia, under the stewardship of Guus Hiddink, were competing in just their second World Cup (their other appearance was in 1974, when they crashed out in the group stage).
Victory in their first match over Japan had put them into a situation where a draw would be good enough to get them into the second round. France ’98 semi-finalists Croatia, on the other hand, needed a win to progress having drawn with the Japanese.
The match started well for the Croatians, when Srna’s long range strike beat Zeljko Kalac (who was surprisingly picked ahead of Mark Schwarzer). Australia responded brilliantly from that early set-back and took complete control of the game. They were rewarded for that effort with a 38th minute handball penalty (a moment of madness from Tomas), which Craig Moore coolly slotted home.
Ten minutes into the second half, and Kalac committed a howler, when he somehow allowed Nico Kovac’s rubbish shot to hop over him and into the net. Australia continued to press forward, forcing a couple of good saves from Croatia keeper Pletikosa. He couldn’t prevent Kewell’s equalizer, however, who turned in John Aloisi’s flick-on, which had more than a hint of offside.
The match was most notable, however, for the performance of the referee. England’s Graham Poll (who had already sent off Simic and Emerton for two bookable offences) handed out a second yellow card to Josup Simunic but didn’t send him off, obviously forgetting the first caution.
This mistake was compounded by the fact that he showed Simunic a third yellow in injury time, finally giving him his marching orders. It is a mistake he has struggled to live down ever since.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
