Brisbane Roar’s Tommy Oar and Matt McKay have helped guide the Qantas Socceroos to a 1-0 victory over Indonesia to qualify for the AFC 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar.
Making his international debut, Oar started the match on the left hand-side of attack, while McKay, picking up the fourth cap of his career, replaced Mile Sterjovski at the start of the second half.
The Roar duo were instrumental in Australia-s victory, a foul on Oar leading to Mark Milligan scoring the only goal of the game in the 42nd minute.
Picked by many pundits as a World Cup bolter, Oar shone on the Australian left flank, tormenting the Indonesian defence with pace, skill and pin-point deliveries.
The second youngest player to make his Qantas Socceroos bow, Oar said he was given a licence to thrill in front of his home fans.
“To be honest I wasn-t really that nervous until I got out there, I just saw it as a normal game,” the 18 year-old said.
“But (the coaching staff) knew what I was capable of, what they thought I would do so I just took confidence from that.
“I was just told to play my natural game … and I went out there and tried to play.”
Oar-s scintillating performance for the Qantas Socceroos earned comparisons to another left-footed winger, Harry Kewell.
However, Oar remains level-headed after bursting onto the international arena, just happy to be selected and help secure a vital three points.
“It-s always good to have fans or people who support you … but you have to keep it all in perspective,” Oar said.
“But it was just awesome to train with players of (the Qantas Socceroos) calibre.
“I learnt a lot from the experience and from players like (Simon) Colosimo.
“I-m glad we won and qualified for the Asian Cup, because that was the goal.”
No stranger to the atmosphere of international football, McKay was quickly into the action once thrown on by coach Pim Verbeek.
The Roar captain played a solid 45 minutes in the heart of the midfield, and came within a whisker of extending the home-side-s advantage with well hit header.
“It was a stooping header but I just really didn-t get over it,” McKay said. “If I got a bit further down it would have been a really good goal.”
The largely Hyundai A-league based Australian side was under immense pressure heading into the match, the squad needing at least a point to qualify for the finals in Qatar.
But now the squad has booked its spot in next year-s competition, the race is on for local players to show they have what it takes to book a ticket destined for Qatar.
“The most important thing was to qualify for the Asian Cup and we did that,” the 27 year-old said.
“There will probably be a few spots open for (Hyundai A-league players), so we all have to continue to work hard next season.
“I want to be part of the 2011 squad, so I-ll keep playing hard for the Roar and hopefully the chances keep coming.”
