AUSTRALIA have booked a ticket to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa with a scoreless draw against a determined Qatar at the Al Sadd Club in Doha.
Needing only a point to officially seal qualification, the Socceroos got the job done against a youthful Qatar side to ensure back-to-back World Cup appearances for the first time.
The home side proved tougher opposition than they had in three previous losses, but Australia could feel unlucky not to have won after Tim Cahill struck the post with a spectacular bicycle kick in the first half and Qatari keeper Qasem Burhan made several brilliant saves in the second. 
The win means the Socceroos cannot finish any lower than second in Asia’s Group A, with the top two teams earning qualification.
They joined Asian rivals Japan as the first two sides to qualify for next year’s tournament, after the Blue Samurai sealed their spot with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan earlier on Saturday.
Hosts South Africa are exempt from qualifying.
Both sides made a tentative start in front of a small but vocal Doha crowd, with the Socceroos content to keep possession in the hot and humid conditions.
Qatar’s star striker Sebastian Soria Quintana looked dangerous early on and had the first real chance of the half after getting in behind Chris Coyne, but he flashed his shot across the face of goal.
The Socceroos muscled their way back into the game before Cahill was denied one of the great goals by the woodwork in the 27th minute.
Josh Kennedy, who impressed up front, flicked on a Mark Bresciano free kick with his head, before Cahill found himself in space, controlled with his chest and drilled an overhead kick into the right upright.
Harry Kewell became increasingly menacing after switching to the right win, going close to scoring himself before creating another move which led to Vince Grella firing a volley just over the bar in the 33rd minute.
Qatar had two chances late in the half with Cahill blocking Quintana’s effort and Mark Schwarzer punching away an ambitions long shot from Ahmed Faris.
Australia stepped up their game early in the second half with a flash of chances within a 10-minute period.
The first came to an unlikely source in defender Chris Coyne, who had his shot cleared off the line after attempting to turn in a headed Cahill effort.
The impressive Everton midfielder was again another stunner when his powerful drive was brilliantly saved in the 57th minute by Burhan.
Burhan was called into action again to tip over a Kennedy shot from out wide and once more in the 63rd minute when Kewell collected a brilliant Grella ball, cut inside Ibrahim Majed and forced another great save by Burhan with his right foot.
Continued to threaten and fired across the face of goal in the 80th and although they didn’t get the goal they perhaps deserved, it meant little when the whistle blew to ensure another historic World Cup appearance.
The Socceroos now have matches against Bahrain and Japan at home to celebrate.
Source www.news.com.au
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Ramsay fires back at Grimshaw
Posted in Local News, tagged "sexist, A Current Affair, abusing, aimed, allegations, allegedly, angry reaction, appearance, arrogant, at the food show, attack, audience, Australia, avalanche, bitter, blown out of proportion, branding, Britain, bully, calling, celebrity chef, chefs, comments, compared, confine, congratulating, deeply mortified, denied, disgusting, extra-marital affair, Fairfax Radio Network, fired, fray, gay., generated, global, Good Food and Wine Show, Gordon, Gordon Ramsay., Grimshaw, guilty, Health Minister, himself, homophobic remarks"., insinuations, intended, joke, Julia Gillard, kevin rudd, kitchen, lawyers, lesbian, Local News, long-running, Melbourne's, Melbourne's Yarra River, members, Mr Rudd's deputy, Ms Gillard, narcissist, New Zealand, Nicola Roxon, nine network, offensive, outburst, overwhelmed, photo, pig, Prime Minister, private life, program, prop., public, public rant, Ramsay, rant, ratings, reflected, remorse, report, reporters, sad, scrutinised, second, sex god, sexuality, stop, support, Tana, The Mail Online, The Mirror, tongue-in-cheek, too far, Tracy Grimshaw, TV chef, TV presenter, uninformed, US, US celebrity watcher Perez Hilton, veteran, viewers, volley, weekend, wife, women, women's groups. on June 9, 2009| 1 Comment »
Days after a public rant aimed at Tracy Grimshaw, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has fired a second volley branding the TV presenter “sad”
and “bitter” for defending herself.
Ramsay denied calling the Nine Network veteran a lesbian at a weekend appearance at Melbourne’s Good Food and Wine Show during which he also allegedly compared her to a pig, using an offensive photo as a prop.
Ramsay on Tuesday said he was “deeply mortified” that his intended joke had been blown out of proportion – and that was before Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the chef’s comments reflected a “new form of low life”.
Mr Rudd’s deputy Julia Gillard and Health Minister Nicola Roxon joined the fray, saying Ramsay should confine himself to the kitchen and stop abusing women.
But there was no remorse from the TV chef after Grimshaw used her A Current Affair program on Monday to take him to task over his food show rant.
Ramsay on Tuesday said he’d never used the word “lesbian” to describe Grimshaw, and said she herself was guilty of a “disgusting” attack on his wife Tana, who’s due in Australia in two weeks.
“She’s obviously doing it for the ratings,” he said of Grimshaw, speaking to reporters after a run along Melbourne’s Yarra River.
On Monday, Grimshaw branded Ramsay a bully and an “arrogant narcissist”. She said he’d made “uninformed insinuations” at the food show about her sexuality, and she told her viewers she was not gay.
Grimshaw said that before a recent interview for her program, Ramsay had insisted she refrain from asking about his private life following allegations of a long-running extra-marital affair.
“We all know why,” she said.
She added: “… I’m not surprised by any of this. We’ve all seen how Gordon Ramsay treats his wife – and he supposedly loves her. We’re all just fodder to him.”
Asked if he could understand how Grimshaw felt, Ramsay told reporters: “I never once said the word lesbian, I was having a tongue-in-cheek joke – it was not at her expense.
“For me on a personal front, to see how sad and how bitter for someone to come out like that, for a renowned pro to come out and stoop that low, is disgusting.”
He said tapes of the alleged incident were being scrutinised by his lawyers.
Mr Rudd was firmly in Grimshaw’s corner on Tuesday, congratulating her for giving Ramsay a “left uppercut” in her reply.
“I think I can describe his remarks as reflecting a new form of low life,” he told the Fairfax Radio Network.
“I just drew breath when I saw the sort of stuff which was said about her. I just think that’s off and offensive.”
Earlier, Ms Gillard said the celebrity chef should stay in the kitchen.
“I think perhaps what he should do is confine himself to the kitchen and make nice things for people to eat rather than make public comments about others,” she said.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said there was no need for “women to be abused in our community at any level”.
Grimshaw said she had been overwhelmed by the avalanche of support she’d received.
The fallout from Ramsay’s rant has gone global, spreading to his homeland Britain and to the US and New Zealand.
Britain’s The Mirror sent up Ramsay in a report headlined: “Good thing Gordon Ramsay is such a sex god.”
“Gordon is such a handsome devil, a veritable sex god come to Earth to live among men, you can understand why he might feel that mere mortals are unworthy of his presence,” the report said.
The Mail Online carried a report about the outburst and the angry reaction it had generated among audience members and women’s groups.
US celebrity watcher Perez Hilton said Ramsay had gone too far with his “sexist, homophobic remarks”.
Source www.ninemsn.com.au
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