Malacca, Malaysia: Australian players and media slammed the referee after Syria’s controversial late penalty dented their hopes of reaching next year’s World Cup following a 1-1 play-off draw in Malacca.
The Socceroos remain in the box seat ahead of Tuesday’s second leg in Sydney, where the eventual winner will go into a final play-off with the CONCACAF federation’s fourth-placed team.
But Omar al-Soma’s 85th-minute equaliser raised harrowing memories of the 1997 play-offs, when Australia drew 1-1 with Iran in Tehran but were held 2-2 at home to go out on away goals.
Forward Robbie Kruse even claimed Iranian referee Alireza Faghani -- who farcically gave him a yellow card when he went down with a serious injury in the 2015 Asian Cup final -- was itching to give the penalty.
“It was evident to everyone it wasn’t a penalty,” Kruse told Australian media.
Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou said he was “bemused” by the decision, while Leckie called it “very poor”.
“It wasn’t like I (made) body contact and tried to put him off, I actually won the header. I don’t know what went through the ref’s mind to give a penalty,” Leckie said.
The Herald Sun said Australia were “robbed” of victory, while one Fox Sports columnist questioned the wisdom of using a referee from Iran, which has close ties with Syria.
