What a game! A match between the two giants of Asia. The Socceroos versus the Blue Samurai. A match to be played at the foot of the heavens.
Cahill versus Honda. Holman versus Endo. Kruse versus Kagawa. Schwarzer versus Kawashima.
For the home side, Japan, they had reason to feel they held the upper hand going into the match-up on Tuesday night in their own backyard.
They did not have it all in their favour, having lost their last two matches and conceding their first back to back losses under Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni.
Japan’s first loss was shock 2-1 loss against Jordan in a World Cup Qualifier and their second a sloppy 2-0 loss against Bulgaria in a Kirin Challenge Cup friendly game.
The away side, the Socceroos, had reason to feel optimistic and hopeful of their chances not only on the back of Japan’s recent form but also the burning hunger and desire of the team to qualify for the Brazil World Cup in 2014.
They sit third in the World Cup Qualifying group behind Japan and Jordan, going into Tuesday night’s clash.
In the end, when the whistle blew full time, Socceroos fans felt hard done by while the Blue Samurai fans felt it was a fair result. Japan 1 drew Australia 1.
Both teams went to the half time break at nil all feeling satisfied with their pulsating performances despite their limited chances peppered towards Kawashima and Schwarzer’s goal mouth.
Both sides matched each other for intensity and determination throughout the match with neither side really gaining the ascendency to seize the game. Their intensity was demonstrated through yellow cards to Japan’s skipper Hasebe and Australian custodian Bresciano for late challenges.
Their determination illustrated by the keepers, with Schwarzer called upon to save Nagatomo’s low shot and Kawashima called upon to rush up and nullify Kruse’s attempted chip in the 34th minute to keep the scoreline deadlocked.
As the game crept into the final ten minutes, Tommy Oar received the ball from the workhorse Bresciano on the left sideline.
He wandered infield and skipped through two challenges, leaving defenders in his wake.
He surged towards the line while sending in a rather innocent cross albeit deflected off the despairing dive of Uchida, and into the goalmouth over the desperate dive of Kawashima.
In the process Oar scored his debut international senior goal in the 81st minute. Australia were 1-0 up.
Oar’s strike silenced the 60 000 capacity Blue Samurai crowd at Saitama Stadium, becoming only the second Socceroo to score on Japanese turf behind the current Socceroo assistant coach, Aurelio Vidmar.
The Socceroos game plan of a compact defensive unit slowed down the speed of the Japanese attack time and time again, albeit just.
The Socceroos centre pairing of skipper Neill and Ognenovski held firm. Their experience and stature was too much for the magic and wizardry of the Blue Samurai attacking weapons of Honda, Kagawa and Endo. The Green and Gold wall was only breached in stoppage time, albeit in dramatic fashion.
As the 90 minutes of normal time ended, three minutes of stoppage time was signalled by the fourth official.
Japan earned a corner which was quickly taken, and the drama unfolded.
The cross was sent in but made contact with the forearm of left back McKay, who had been key in the Socceroos performance.
The referee duly awarded the penalty and McKay was handed the third and final yellow card of the night.
Honda stepped up to the mark to face Schwarzer, firing the spot kick down the middle agonisingly above the keeper’s legs and into the back of the net.
All tied up in the 91st minute of the game, where there was to be no further drama.
The Socceroos sit in second spot and have two matches left in the World Cup Qualifying stage, against Iraq and Oman, at home.
Whereas the Blue Samurai have just the one match remaining against Jordan, albeit having already mathematically qualified for the World Cup in top spot following Tuesday night’s result.
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Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
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