A late flourish from Australia led them to their first ever victory in a World Cup Finals tournament. All three goals came from substitutes, with Everton midfielder Tim Cahill scoring two, and John Aloisi scoring the other in injury time. Japan had gone ahead in the 26th minute through a contraversial free kick, scored by Shunsuke Nakamura.
The game proved to be fairly open, and in truth neither side deserved to lose. First blood went to Japan, as they took the lead after 26 minutes. They were awarded a free kick, which was floated into the box by Shansuke Nakamura. The ball flew over the head of Mark Schwarzer, who appeared to have been fouled, and into the net. This put Japan a goal up, and it stayed that way for a long time.
It wasn't until the 84th minute when Australia got their first goal. A long throw in was throw into the Japanese penalty area by Blackburn Rover's Lucas Neill. The Japanese keeper went for the ball, but missed it. The ball eventually fell to Everton's Tim Cahill who slotted it past five Japanese defenders, and into the keeperless net. This seemed a bit harsh on Japan, who in truth had chances earlier on to put the game past the Australians.
Things were to get harsher still, as Tim Cahill scored his second goal five minutes later with a beautiful shot from just outside the area. The ball fell to Cahill about half way inside the Japanese half. Cahill dribbled forward, and saw an opening in the Japanese defence, before sending a well placed shot into the Japanese goal, rebounding in off the post.
The Australians wrapped up their first ever World Cup victory in style, with John Aloisi adding to their lead in the 2nd minute of injury time. Aloisi, who had come on as a substitute, seemed to have a lot more energy than the Japanese defenders, as he found a way past them, before sending his shot past the Japanese goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Overall, it was a fairly open game, in what looks to be a relatively open group, bar Brazil. The scoreline was certainly harsh on the Japanese, who had chances to put the game past Australia in the second half. They now face an uphill struggle to qualify from Group F. Australia will be oozing confidence following their late comeback, and next in line for the Socceroos is the small matter of Brazil.
Australia 3-1 Japan
Cahill 84, 89 .Nakamura
Aloisi 90+2
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