​Miracle Saves Secure Australia Draw Against War-Torn Iraq

Australia were fortunate to survive with a draw in their World Cup Qualifier against Iraq in neutral Tehran overnight. It was as gritty and obscure as world football gets. Temperatures hovered at a chilly five degrees as Australia ran onto a beat-up, shoe-box of a ground, complete with uneven grass, gloriously 1980s technology, and posters of Ayatollah Khamenei watching over.

They went up one-nil via a set-piece header from Brendan Leckie 29 minutes in - the first goal not from a penalty that Australia has scored in the last 239 minutes - though struggled for any cohesion or control in the match afterwards.

GOAL for Iraq! — Wide World of Sports (@wwos)March 23, 2017

Iraq, who has not played a game at home since 2013 due to war, fought back valiantly creating the bulk of opportunities in the match. It took several world-class saves from Stuttgart-based keeper, Mitch Langerak, to keep Australia in it, including an absolute special in the 60th minute. The war-torn nation kept pressing, however, equalising in the 76th minute through Ibrahim, and that is where it stayed.

The draw is Australia's fourth in a row and leaves Japan with the chance to leapfrog Australia into second behind Saudi Arabia in their group if they can beat the UAE.

Australia has four games remaining including one in Sydney on Tuesday against the UAE. They will need to win the majority to ensure a World Cup birth at Russia 2018.

Coach Ange Postecoglou made wholesale changes leading into the game, bringing in several new faces and shifting Australia's formation to 3-4-3. A dejected Postecoglou conceded after the game Australia did not deserve to walk away with the three points.

"Tough game, especially in the second half. We didn't cope with them being fairly direct and we just weren't strong enough in our defensive areas. We were continually scrambling for things and never really got a hold of the game," he said.