DOHA: Australia, the 2015 Asian Cup champions, enjoyed a comfortable start to this year’s edition when they downed India 2-0 in a Group B match at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, about 22 kilometres (km) from here, today.
The Socceroos, under the guidance of coach Graham Arnold, however, had to wait until the second half to get their goals through Jackson Irvine and substitute Jordan Bos.
In their first meeting since 2011, Australia dominated possession and launched several dangerous attacks, with India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu having to work overtime to keep the team from Down Under at bay in the first half.
However, the India defence was finally breached when Gurpreet failed to deal with a cross cleanly and his clearance saw the ball fall to Irvine and the FC St Pauli midfielder slotted home in the 51st minute.
Australia then doubled their lead when Bos, who had come on in place of Craig Goodwin, turned in a cross from Riley McGree in the 73rd minute.
Australian skipper Mathew Ryan admitted that he was relieved to bag all three points after the hard-fought win.
“The most important thing was getting off to a winning start, coming into a big tournament like this there is a bit of pressure on the first result. We wanted to come out with a positive display and there was a little bit of rustiness out there that we will look to improve on, but good first game and we will learn from it.
“It’s all about winning in this sort of tournament. Our focus will turn to the Syria game – we know that they are a good side, but I’m sure we will put in a better performance in the next one,” he told the official broadcast.
Meanwhile, the Australia-India match saw history being created when Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan became the first woman referee to officiate a match in the flagship tournament.
On Thursday (Jan 18), Australia will take on Syria while India will meet Uzbekistan.
Finally, China and Tajikistan were forced to share points when their Group A match ended in a goalless draw at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
China will play Lebanon, who lost 0-3 to defending champions Qatar yesterday while Tajikistan will have their date with the hosts on Jan 17.-Bernama
