PastyHusty

Australia 3-1 Japan
What an exciting comeback!

The first-half was without a doubt the fast paced half, with the heat again having such a significant say in that respect. Australia started well - Viduka looked especially threatening. Japan came into the match and looked dangerous with the pace up front. Nakamura's 'goal' after 26 minutes was a glaring mistake from the referee. Yanagisawa clearly pushed Schwarzer over, so how exactly was he meant to stop the ball!? Japan ahead at half-time, thanks to the referee.

The second-half slowed down as players on both sides beacme increasingly tired due to the heat (which was 38 degrees C at kick-off ). Australia looked more and more capable of scoring a goal as the half wore on, and all their substitutions were geared towards finding an equaliser - Cahill, Aloisi and the tall striker Kennedy. Japan had their fair chances of securing the match, but wasted them all. Kawaguchi made several great saves from free kicks, but he was way out of goal when Cahill pounced on a loose ball in the box to equalise for Australia after 84 minutes - their first goal in the World Cup Finals! The match opened out even more afterwards, with Japan searching for a winner, but it was Australia who found it, Cahill again sending the ball in off the near post - no chance for Kawaguchi! Aloisi rounded off the win to make it 3-1, a scoreline which is a bit unfair on Japan. In the end it was the fresh legs of Cahill and Aloisi that made the difference in Kaiserslautern today. I suspect that this isn't the last match where heat will play a big part.



I need it too! Kaiserslautern is not the only place with hot weather today!


In which case, Serbia had better win.


You should also look forward to who I could come up with from the Australian crowd!