Socceroos: Touch of Gold

Finally, I'm home. After watching the Australia versus Japan match, I have only one word for the Aussies. Brilliant. The Socceroos won the match 3-1, scoring thrice in 8 minutes. No, I mean the last 8 minutes. Tom Cahill scored a brace on the 84th and 89th minutes respectively and Aloisi hammered one in at the stoppage time. What a match it was.

The match started with the Japaneses piling pressure at the Aussies. They eventually get a goal. Shunsuke Nakamura gave Japan the lead in the 26th minute, floating a cross from 25 yards that sailed in over the head of Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. The goal was completely ridiculous. Schwarzer was obviously pushed by Japan forward Naohiro Takahara as the two jumped, but there was no foul and Schwarzer walked off at halftime shaking his head.

Schwarzer comfronted the referee later on and the referee admitted that it was a mistake and apologised. Too bad nothing could be done to deny the goal. So, the Aussies went into half-time with a goal down.

The second half started with Australia sending waves of attacks at the Japan goal. Despite that, the Japs refuse to budge.

As the Australians were still Down Under, my cousin told me the match would just end with this scoreline, like most of the matches did. So, I said, "What if they score?" Then, the Aussies got three.

Japan goalkeeper Kawaguchi made several key saves off free kicks in the second half before his blunder on the first Aussie goal. Cahill, who came on in the 53rd minute, equalized when he picked up a loose ball off a throw-in and beat Kawaguchi with a right-footed shot. Kawaguchi erred in coming out of his net.

Every fan wearing the yellow jersey went wild as Cahill celebrated his first ever World Cup goal. Five minutes later, Cahill extended the celebration. With the Japanese clearly off-balance, he hammered a shot from 20 yards with a right-footed shot that went in off the goalpost.

Once again, the fans of Socceroos roared in celebration. Cahill was their hero. Every Australian player want to get a piece of him. They threw themselves at him, piling on top of him. Even manager Guus Hiddink joined in the celebration.

With only one minute and a few minutes of stoppage time left on the clock, the stunned Japanese pushed up for a second goal, but it was Australia's Aloisi who found the net in the final seconds from 15 yards after snaking through the defense. The goal sealed the game.


That finished off the comeback for his nation's first World Cup win. Australia's only other trip was in 1974, when it failed to score a goal in losing to host West Germany and East Germany and tying Chile 0-0.

At Kaiserslautern that day, was currently the best World Cup match I had ever seen. I see a bunch of players with their never-say-die attitude. They did not gave up even until the final few minutes. Just a few final words. Brilliant stuff, mate.