Australia have been eliminated from the World Cup after losing 2-0 to Peru in their final Group C game at Sochi’s Fisht Stadium.
The Socceroos needed to win to have any chance of reaching the last 16, but they were beaten by goals from André Carrillo and Paolo Guerrero leaving Denmark and France as the qualifiers from Group C.
Peru had not found the net in the first two games of the group stage, but took the lead in this match against the run of play after 18 minutes. The captain, Guerrero, chased down a long ball and crossed for Carrillo, arriving in the penalty area, to score with a fine right-footed volley beyond Mat Ryan. It was Peru’s first World Cup finals goal for 36 years and their large travelling support celebrated wildly.
They were in raptures again when Guerrero scored the second five minutes into the second half, after some good work down the left by the midfielder Christian Cueva. His cross was deflected but fell kindly for Guerrero to hook it past Ryan.
Australia brought on Tim Cahill after 53 minutes. It was the 38-year-old veteran’s first appearance of the tournament and he has scored for Australia in the past three World Cups. But there was to be no fairytale ending for Cahill or Australia, as they joined Peru on the early flights home from Russia.
Denmark and France must now wait for the evening games in Group D to see who they will face in the last 16, with Croatia definitely through and Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland all still with a chance of joining them.
