Australia reach FIFA World Cup knockout phase after goalless draw with Paraguay
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Australia booked their place in the World Cup’s round of 32 on Thursday with a cagey 0-0 draw against Paraguay that delighted pragmatic coach Tony Popovic but left the South Americans with a nervous wait to see if they will advance. In a physical, scrappy contest at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, Paraguay pushed late after being dominated early but it ended with the Socceroos holding on to make the tournament’s knockout phase for a third time, four years after reaching the last 16 in Qatar. Popovic’s team sealed second place in Group D behind the United States and will head to Dallas to meet the second-placed team in Group G, which remains wide open before Egypt face Iran and Belgium meet New Zealand on Friday. It was hardly a performance that will have Australia’s next opponents shaking in their boots, but players and staff celebrated with hugs and back-slapping, and soaked up a warm ovation from thousands of lingering Aussie fans. “I’d like to think that we dominated the game in a crucial World Cup qualifier with a very young squad in the third match, when everything’s on the line, and the players showed composure, patience, quality, and resilience,” Popovic told reporters. “Well, now go to Dallas and try and do something special. “Overall we deserved it. We were very good today.” Paraguay, on four points, may have done enough to advance as one of the eight best-finishing, third-placed sides but the 2010 quarter-finalists will need to wait for other results in the final group matches. “Well, the feeling I have is that that was not enough, that was not the result we were aiming for,” said Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro. “Now we have to wait, there is some uncertainty … I’m very optimistic, however, and I think that we will go to the knockout stage and we will continue in the World Cup.” Popovic made six changes to his starting 11 in a bold shake-up, bringing back livewire Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, while adding Cristian Volpato to his forward line in a