A controversial late penalty called by Iranian referee Alireza Faghani allowed Omar Al Somah to score and give Syria a 1-1 tie with Australia in the first leg of their Asian playoffseries. The draw still leaves Socceroos favored in the series that concludes Tuesday with the second leg at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium. The winner faces the fourth-place team from Concacaf in November for aberth at the World Cup.