Australia will be at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after beating Peru on Monday in the intercontinental playoff in a penalty shootout. Regulation ended at 0-0, nobody scored in extra time, and the Aussies won the shootout 5-4 with backup goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne making the decisive save.
The Sydney FC man came on in the final minutes for Maty Ryan and delivered, waving his hands and dancing before every attempt as he made one stop and had his post provide another to give Australia access to the World Cup coming up in November. This is their fifth consecutive trip to the World Cup as they enter Group D where they'll be joined by reigning champs France, who are in a bit of a rut, Denmark and Tunisia.
Here's the moment Australia won:
All of the match's excitement came in the shootout as the 120 minutes of play produced very little. The end product for both teams was absolutely abysmal and both managers were visibly frustrated with how their teams performed when on the ball.
Peru's first shot on goal didn't come till extra time, and while they were clearly the better team at stretches, the failure to produce a sharp pass to set up a quality shot did them in, ending the dream of returning to the World Cup.
Australia grew as the match went on and found it difficult to beat Pedro Gallese in goal, but some efficient penalty kicks were enough with their backup goalkeeper doing what he was brought in to do. Redmayne's save on Alex Valera to punch their ticket came afteAustraliaia followed up their opening miss with five straight conversions from the spot.
Five straight World Cups is a first for the history of this program. After making it for the first time in 1974, they failed to make the next seven editions before finally qualifying in 2006. There, they made the knockout stage for the first time ever. They've failed to advance from the group stage in their last three World Cups. For the full World Cup schedule, click here.