A second string Australian squad, made up entirely of home based A-League players won their way into the Asian Cup for the very first time (Australia joined the Asian Confederation earlier this year) following a 2-0 win against Asian minnows Kuwait.
The performance was very lack lustre and it was evident that this squad was playing together for the very first time under new Aussie coach Graham Arnold.
Second half goals from Travis Dodd (Adelaide United) in the 70th minute and Sasha Petrovski (Sydney FC) soon after sealed the decider.
Man of the match for me was shared between Dodd & midfield live wire, David Carney.