Australia's Tim Cahill ends Syria's World Cup dream

Tim Cahill scored twice, including the extra-time winner, as Australia kept their World Cup hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over Syria in the second leg of the Asian playoff on Tuesday (October 10).

The 3-2 aggregate victory sends the Socceroos into an intercontinental playoff in November against the fourth-placed team in North and Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) qualifying with a World Cup spot on the line.

Cahill scored Australia's opener with a trademark header in the 13th minute but it was not until 96 minutes later that he kept alive his country's hopes of a fourth successive appearance at the World Cup finals with his 50th international goal.

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Syria, who had to play all their "home" qualifiers in Malaysia because of the security situation in their war-torn nation, fought until the very end of the match but ultimately came up short in their bid for a maiden World Cup spot.