Australia fall short

NELSPRUIT, South Africa (AP):

Tim Cahill and Brett Holman scored second-half goals yesterday to help Australia beat Serbia 2-1 in Group D of the World Cup, though both teams were eliminated.

Cahill put the Australians ahead with a glancing header from Luke Wilkshire's cross in the 69th minute and Holman added the second from long range four minutes later.

"A lot of respect for the lads. We've been through some hard times here," said Cahill, who was sent off in the team's opening match. "I'm just buzzing to hit the back of the net because this time last week my World Cup was over."

Marko Pantelic pulled a goal back for Serbia in the 84th and then had a chance for a late equaliser but could not control a bouncing ball.

If Serbia had drawn, the team would have advanced ahead of Ghana.

"I'm just disappointed we don't go through. We have four points, I thought it might be enough," Australia coach Pim Verbeek said. "In the end, the goal difference against Germany killed us."

"We did our best, everything we could," Serbia coach Radomir Antic said. "This was a good game and I can't reproach my players as we had plenty of chances that we didn't take. In the end, we deserved more than what we got and now we have to go back home."