Australia produced a battling 2-1 victory against Serbia in their final Group D game in Nelspruit as both teams exited the World Cup.
The Serbs were made to pay the price for their profligacy in front of goal after missing a host of chances when dominating the first period.
Australia improved after the break and Tim Cahill put the Socceroos ahead with a glancing header from Luke Wilkshire's cross in the 69th minute.
Four minutes later, substitute Brett Holman was given 20 yards of free space to run into by the Serbian defence, and he accepted the invitation before rifling a ferocious shot that beat Vladimir Stojković from 30 yards.
Serbia grabbed a lifeline six minutes from time as Mark Schwarzer spilled a long-range Zoran Tošić shot and fellow substitute Marko Pantelić pounced from close range
Pantelić then had the ball in the net but was given offside before straying needlessly offside once more when blazing over from close range in injury time.
Lineups:
Australia: Mark Schwarzer; Luke Wilkshire (Richard Garcia, 82), Michael Beauchamp, Lucas Neill, David Carney; Jason Culina, Carl Valeri (Brett Holman, 66); Brett Emerton, Tim Cahill, Mark Bresciano (Scott Chipperfield, 66); Joshua Kennedy
Serbia: Vladimir Stojković; Branislav Ivanović, Nemanja Vidić, Aleksandar Luković, Ivan Obradović; Miloš Krasić (Zoran Tošić, 62), Dejan Stanković, Zdravko Kuzmanović (Danko Lazović, 77), Miloš Ninković, Milan Jovanović; Nikola Žigić (Marko Pantelić, 67)
Statistics:
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The Serbs were made to pay the price for their profligacy in front of goal after missing a host of chances when dominating the first period.
Australia improved after the break and Tim Cahill put the Socceroos ahead with a glancing header from Luke Wilkshire's cross in the 69th minute.
Four minutes later, substitute Brett Holman was given 20 yards of free space to run into by the Serbian defence, and he accepted the invitation before rifling a ferocious shot that beat Vladimir Stojković from 30 yards.
Serbia grabbed a lifeline six minutes from time as Mark Schwarzer spilled a long-range Zoran Tošić shot and fellow substitute Marko Pantelić pounced from close range
Pantelić then had the ball in the net but was given offside before straying needlessly offside once more when blazing over from close range in injury time.
Lineups:
Australia: Mark Schwarzer; Luke Wilkshire (Richard Garcia, 82), Michael Beauchamp, Lucas Neill, David Carney; Jason Culina, Carl Valeri (Brett Holman, 66); Brett Emerton, Tim Cahill, Mark Bresciano (Scott Chipperfield, 66); Joshua Kennedy
Serbia: Vladimir Stojković; Branislav Ivanović, Nemanja Vidić, Aleksandar Luković, Ivan Obradović; Miloš Krasić (Zoran Tošić, 62), Dejan Stanković, Zdravko Kuzmanović (Danko Lazović, 77), Miloš Ninković, Milan Jovanović; Nikola Žigić (Marko Pantelić, 67)
Statistics:
| Australia | Serbia | |
| 2 | Goals | 1 |
| 7 | Shots on target | 6 |
| 5 | Shots off target | 10 |
| 5 | Corners | 6 |
| 24 | Fouls | 10 |
| 1 | Offsides | 7 |
| 3 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 46 | Ball possession (%) | 54 |
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