2001 Australia national soccer team season

Australia

2001 season
Manager	Frank Farina
←  2000 2002  →

This page summarises the Australia national soccer team fixtures and results in 2001.

Summary

Australia started a busy 2001 with an away friendly in Bogotá, Colombia where they went three goals behind to the hosts before pulling two back late. In April, Australia commenced their qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup by hosting a group of five in the OFC qualification First Round at Coffs Harbour. In the first game against Tonga, Australia set a new world record for an international football match when they won 22–0. ^[1] Just two days later, they broke that record when they won 31–0 against American Samoa. ^[2] Archie Thompson also set an individual world record by scoring 13 goals in the game. ^[2] With Australia winning their next two games they comfortably proceeded to the OFC Final Round against New Zealand later in the year.

As champions of the 2000 OFC Nations Cup, Australia headed to South Korea for the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. They were drawn in a group with hosts South Korea; 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 winners, France and Mexico, winners of the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. Australia beat Mexico in the opening game with a first half goal to Shaun Murphy and another to Josip Skoko in the second half. ^[3] They then had a surprise victory over France when Clayton Zane scored the only goal of the game. ^[3] Despite losing the third game 1–0 to South Korea, Australia finished second in the group on goal difference to proceed to the semi-final stage. They had to travel to Yokohama to play against Japan, the joint hosts, and lost the game 1–0. Australia finished off the tournament with another upset victory to claim third-place. This time it was against Brazil when Murphy scored in the 84th minute for a 1–0 victory. ^[3]

Nine days later Australia were in Wellington for the first leg of the second round of World Cup qualification. Brett Emerton scored a double and despite a late Danny Tiatto red card they held on for a 2–0 win. The second leg was held in front of a crowd of 41,976 at Stadium Australia in Sydney and a 4–1 win gave them a 6–1 aggregate victory and meant Australia would proceed to OFC–CONMEBOL play-off against the fifth placed South American side.

Heading back to Japan for an August friendly saw Australia lose 3–0 and in November they hosted the current world ranked number one nation, France in a friendly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Craig Moore gave Australia the lead just prior to half-time however French striker David Trezeguet equalised just after the break and the game finished 1–1. ^[4]

The year finished up with a two-legged tie to attempt to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Australia hadn't participated since the 1974 FIFA World Cup and they came up against Uruguay. The first leg was played in Melbourne and a Kevin Muscat penalty in the 78th minute gave Australia a 1–0 lead going into the second leg. ^[5] On 25 November the second leg was played at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. An early goal by Darío Silva for Uruguay brought the tie level however a second half brace by Richard Morales gave victory and World Cup qualification to Uruguay. ^[6]

Record

Type	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
Friendly matches	3	0	1	2	3	7
Confederations Cup	5	3	0	2	4	2
World Cup qualifiers	8	7	0	1	73	4
Total	16	10	1	5	80	13

Match results

Friendlies

Colombia   v   Australia

28 February 2001 Friendly match	Colombia	3–2	Australia	Bogotá, Colombia
	Serna 12' Salazar 66' Grisales 75'		77' (pen.) Corica 90' Chipperfield	Stadium: Nemesio Camacho Stadium Attendance: 2,071 Referee: Henry Cervantes

Japan   v   Australia

15 August 2001Friendly match	Japan	3–0	Australia	Fukuroi, Japan
	Yanagisawa 19' Hattori 53' Nakayama 65' (pen.)			Stadium: Shizuoka Stadium Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Zhang Jianjun

Australia   v   France

11 November 2001Friendly match	Australia	1–1	France	Melbourne, Australia
	Moore 43'	Report	49' Trezeguet	Stadium: Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendance: 53,173 Referee: Simon Micallef

Confederations Cup

Mexico   v   Australia

30 May 2001 Group match	Mexico	0–2	Australia	Suwon, South Korea
			20' Murphy 55' Skoko	Stadium: Suwon World Cup Stadium Attendance: 6,232 Referee: Felix Tangawarima

Australia   v   France

1 June 2001 Group match	Australia	1–0	France	Daegu, South Korea
	Zane 89'			Stadium: Daegu World Cup Stadium Attendance: 44,400 Referee: Carlos Batres

South Korea   v   Australia

3 June 2001 Group match	South Korea	1–0	Australia	Suwon, South Korea
	Hwang 24'			Stadium: Suwon World Cup Stadium Attendance: 42,759 Referee: Oscar Julian Ruiz

Japan   v   Australia

7 June 2001 Semi-final	Japan	1–0	Australia	Yokohama, Japan
	Nakata 43'			Stadium: Yokohama International Stadium Attendance: 48,699 Referee: Benito Archundia

Australia   v   Brazil

9 June 2001 3rd place	Australia	1–0	Brazil	Ulsan, South Korea
	Murphy 84'			Stadium: Munsu Cup Stadium Attendance: 28,520 Referee: Hellmut Krug

World Cup qualifiers

Tonga   v   Australia

9 April 2001 OFC group match	Tonga	0–22	Australia	Coffs Harbour, Australia
			Chipperfield 3', 83' Mori 13', 23', 40', 58' Aloisi 14', 24', 37', 45', 52', 63' Muscat 18', 30', 54', 82' Popovic 67' Vidmar 74' Zdrilic 78', 90' Thompson 80' Boutsianis 87'	Stadium: International Sports Stadium Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Harry Atisson

Australia   v   American Samoa

11 April 2001 OFC group match	Australia	31–0	American Samoa	Coffs Harbour, Australia
	Boutsianis 10', 50', 84' Thompson 12', 23', 27', 29', 32' 37', 42', 45', 56', 60' 65', 85', 88' Zdrilic 13', 21', 25', 33', 58' 66', 78', 89' Vidmar 14', 80' Popovic 17', 19' Colosimo 51', 81' De Amicis 55'			Stadium: International Sports Stadium Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Ronan Leaustic

Fiji   v   Australia

14 April 2001 OFC group match	Fiji	0–2	Australia	Coffs Harbour, Australia
			Corica 23' Foxe 81'	Stadium: International Sports Stadium Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Derek Rugg

Australia   v   Samoa

16 April 2001 OFC group match	Australia	11–0	Samoa	Coffs Harbour, Australia
	A. Vidmar 5', 50' Zdrillic 28', 57' Foxe 44' Popovic 55', 89' Thompson 75', 88' Chipperfield 76' Bureta 81' (o.g.)			Stadium: International Sports Stadium Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Brian Precious

New Zealand   v   Australia

20 June 2001 OFC final round	New Zealand	0–2	Australia	Wellington, New Zealand
			Emerton 6', 82'	Stadium: Westpac Trust Stadium Attendance: 19,500 Referee: Masayoshi Okada

Australia   v   New Zealand

24 June 2001 OFC final round	Australia	4–1	New Zealand	Sydney, Australia
	Zdrilic 5', 82' Emerton 40' Aloisi 56'		Coveny 44' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadium Australia Attendance: 41,976 Referee: Kwon Jung Chul

Australia   v   Uruguay

20 November 2001 Play-off	Australia	1–0	Uruguay	Melbourne, Australia
	Muscat 79' (pen.)			Stadium: Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendance: 84,656 Referee: Graziano Cesari

Uruguay   v   Australia

25 November 2001 Play-off	Uruguay	3–0	Australia	Montevideo, Uruguay
	Silva 14' Morales 70', 90'			Stadium: Estadio Centenario Attendance: 62,000 Referee: Ali Bujsaim

Goal scorers

Player	Goals
Archie Thompson	16
David Zdrillic	14
John Aloisi	7
Kevin Muscat	5
Tony Popovic	5
Con Boutsianis	4
Scott Chipperfield	4
Damian Mori	4
Aurelio Vidmar	4
Brett Emerton	3
Simon Colosimo	2
Steve Corica	2
Hayden Foxe	2
Shaun Murphy	2
Fausto De Amicis	1
Craig Moore	1
Josip Skoko	1
Tony Vidmar	1
Clayton Zane	1

References

1. "Australia set record". News24. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
2. "Australia Score 31 Without Loss In Record Win". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
3. Tuckerman, Mike. "Beating France and Brazil? Australia did both in 2001". The Roar. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
4. "Australia v France, 11 November 2001". 11v11.com. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
5. Hall, Matthew (21 November 2001). "Muscat gives Australia an edge". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
6. Fahey, Jessica (26 November 2001). "Australia's world is turned upside down once more". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2020.

• Ozfootball.net Australian National Team Results 2001