Socceroos Come From Behind To Defeat Japan
June 17, 2009
Japan visited Australia to take on the Socceroos in the final match of the FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying stage. Both teams had already secured their spot at the pinnacle of soccer to take place in just under a year in South Africa. This by no means was a dead rubber. Pride was on the line.
The rivalry between Japan and Australia has been building since both teams met in Germany in 2006. On that occasion it was Australia who came out on top. Japan got their revenge at the Asian Cup.
Before a crowd of around 70000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground it was Marcus Tulio Tanaka who opened the scoring as he beat Mark Schwarzer after 40 minutes. The significant thing to note about this goal is that it was the first goal Australia had conceded in this group stage. They had gone seven games without a single goal being scored. After the match Lucas Neill blamed himself for the Japanese goal.
Before the match I tipped a 2-1 win for the Socceroos and thanks to Tim Cahill I hit it on the head. Cahill scored yet again against Japan when he headed home from a long cross on the 59 minute mark.
If that was not enough to haunt Japan, Tim Cahill popped up again to give the Aussies the winning goal in the 77th minute. Nicky Carle had just taken a left footed shot that almost beat the Japanese keeper. He turned it wide for a corner. From the corner it was Cahill who tapped home from close range.
The Aussies following this result end the qualifying on top of the group with a five point margin ahead of Japan. Despite all the criticism from so called fans the Socceroos really could not do much better. Sure they did not play dazzling football at all times but the conceded just one goal in the final group stage and were the clear leaders.
No surprise but Tim Cahill took man of the match honors. In the after match interview Cahill did not have much to say. He just answered his questions by saying I just want to thank the crowd. No doubt he was not happy with the press after their reporting of a nightclub incident in Sydney.
Love to hear your comments about Pim Verbeek and the rest of the Socceroos.
Congratulations go to Lucas Neill who was playing his 50th game for the Socceroos.
Who is in FIFA 2010 World Cup so far?
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