TOMMY Oar came to Australia's rescue as the Young Socceroos stole a 1-1 draw at the death in their opening game of the U20s World Cup against Ecuador this morning.
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Ecuador took the lead when a deflected save by Young Socceroo keeper Mark Birightti evaded the Australian defence only to find Juan Govea who made no mistake as he slammed it into the net midway through the first half.
It looked to have been enough to secure a win for the South Americans who had controlled the game but former Brisbane Roar youngster Oar ripped up the script as the clock ticked over into injury time and Australia won a free kick ten metres outside the Ecuador box.
He ran up to the ball and blasted it into the goal, leaving the opposition keeper no chance as Australia nicked a point with just seconds to spare at Estadio Palogrande in Colombia.
Australia's best run of play had come in the first 15 seconds as they took the game to the opposition from the first blow of the whistle when Kofi Danning came close to nicking an early lead.
But Ecuador soon assumed control and dictated play from about the 15th minute onwards, constantly looking quick and dangerous with a high-pressing game that had Australia floundering.
A couple of goalmouth scares could have seen Ecuador extend their lead after the first goal but fortune alone kept Australia in the game.
The Young Socceroos were simply unable to maintain possession or direction for the first half, with the holding pairing of Ben Kantarovski and Dimi Petratos failing their side in midfield.
On the odd occasion that the youngsters were able to push forward, passes were overhit and counter attacks quickly petered out ineffectively.
In the second half, the replacement of Kantarovski by Terry Antonis finally began to repair some of the damage being done in midfield and Australia came back into the match.
Bernie Ibin-Isei's replacement of the surprisingly lacklustre Mustafa Amini added extra speed upfront but Australia still failed to capitalise on more time on the ball.
Although Ecuador eased off their high-pressing game to a more patient approach, the South Americans were still a constant danger with darting quick counter attacks carving up the green and gold defence.
But as full-time approached, Oar did a smash and grab with his freekick that denied Ecuador a win and kept Australia's hopes alive of qualifying from the group stage by salvaging the 1-1 draw.
They now face Costa Rica at 10.45am AET on Thursday.
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