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BANGKOK - Tim Cahill scored in stoppage time to earn Australia a 1-1 draw against Oman in their opening Asian Cup soccer match on Monday (NZ time).
The Everton midfielder saved Australia's blushes when he slammed the ball into the back of the net after a frantic goalmouth scramble, denying Oman an unexpected victory over the tournament favourites.
Oman, who are 26 places below Australia in the world rankings, led for almost an hour after Badar Mubarak capitalised on some sloppy Australian defending to score in the first half.
Oman missed another three clear chances to score again in the second half and were left to rue their poor finishing when the Socceroos equalised in torrential rain to leave all four teams level in Group A following Thailand's 1-1 draw with Iraq on Saturday.
The Australians, who are tipped to win the title because of their European-based players, struggled to impose themselves on Oman, lacking cohesion both in attack in defence.
They created few real scoring chances despite playing most of the second half with Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, John Aloisi and Cahill up front and were lucky to escape with a draw in their first appearance at the Asian Cup.
There were already big question marks about Australia's defence after their friendly against Singapore last week and Oman were quick to expose their problems when they opened them up to score in the 31st minute.
Imad Ali broke down the left hand side, then turned the ball back past two defenders to the unmarked Mubarak, who drilled the ball into the net from inside the area.
Oman almost scored a second four minutes into the second half when Ahmed Mubarak found space on the edge of the box and unleashed a powerful low drive kept out by a brilliant diving save from Mark Schwarzer.
Oman had two even better chances to extend their lead but were denied by Schwarzer's sharp reflexes.
The Middlesbrough goalkeeper instinctively saved a point-blank header from Ali in the 69th minute then another low drive from Fawi Bashir moments later as Oman broke free on the counter attack.
The Australians became increasingly frustrated at the number of injury stoppages for Oman's players but their persistence paid off when Cahill, who scored twice in Australia's World Cup win over Japan two years ago, came off the bench to score the equaliser.
- REUTERS
