Australia has failed to qualify for the under-17 football World Cup after a heavy 5-1 defeat to Iran at the under-16 Asian championships in Tehran.
The Joeys needed to win the quarter-final to be one of the four teams from Asia to make the World Cup which is being held late next year in United Arab Emirates.
"Congratulations to Iran for qualifying to the World Cup and on their much deserved victory," said coach Alistair Edwards.
"Of course we had hoped we would qualify and we didn't expect such a result but Iran played a high-pressure game and didn't allow us to get into our rhythm. We made too many mistakes at times but again this was mainly down to Iran's pressure.
Australia finished second in its group after losing its final match to Iraq on penalties and surrendering top spot.
Edwards said he did not regret fielding a weak side for the Iraq match.
"All games in the tournament have been difficult and on another day we could have won the penalty shootout against Iraq," he said.
"But it would have been tough playing Kuwait as well. At the end of the day Iran played much better than us and deserved their victory.
"I am happy for Iran but also proud of my players. Apart from the match today I think we had a good tournament," concluded Edwards.
To final four teams to qualify were Iran, Iraq, Uzbekistan and Japan.
Tags: socceroos, soccer, sport, australia, iran-islamic-republic-of First posted October 01, 2012 14:14:15