The Socceroos suffered heartbreak in their bid to lift
the Asian Cup for the first time as Japan won Saturday's final 1-0
in extra time in Doha.
Substitute Tadanari Lee struck in the 109th minute to shatter
Australia's hopes and give Japan a record fourth Asian Cup title,
their third in the past four tournaments.
The Socceroos were gallant in an enthralling contest played in
front of 37,174 fans at Khalifa Stadium but it was a single
defensive lapse that cost them.
Yuto Nagatomo beat off Luke Wilkshire on the left flank and sent
in a curling cross and Lee, a 99th minute substitute, was left
totally unmarked to smash a well-taken volley past Mark
Schwarzer.
It was a cruel blow for an Australian defence which had until
that point been brilliant in deflecting Japan's attack, with
captain Lucas Neill and Sasa Ognenovski particularly
impressive.
The loss revived memories of Australia's first Asian Cup
campaign in 2007, when they were dumped out by Japan in the
quarter-finals.
It also cruelled a chance for veterans such as Neill, Schwarzer,
Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton to claim a piece of
silverware for a golden age of Australian football that included
qualifying for back-to-back World Cups.
The match went to extra time after a scoreless but entertaining
90 minutes in which both sides created several good
opportunities.
Australia started brightly with Matt McKay, who kept his place
in the starting line-up ahead of Emerton, squandering a chance in
only the second minute after some impressive build-up from Tim
Cahill, Brett Holman and Carl Valeri.
The Socceroos suffered a scare when Schwarzer fell awkwardly
while making a clearance off the goal line but the gloveman, who
broke Alex Tobin's caps record in his 88th appearance, played
on.
Some brilliant service from Wilkshire and David Carney created a
host of chances in the air, with Cahill ever present and Kewell
forcing a great reaction save from man-of-the-match Eiji Kawashima
in the 19th minute.
Japan kept the ball well to take the sting out of Australia's
momentum and also looked the part going forward, with brilliant
midfielders Keisuke Honda and Yasushito Endo pulling the
strings.
Australia thought they had taken the lead three minutes into the
second half when a Wilkshire cross struck the bar and was almost
bundled in by Cahill and referee Ravshan Irmatov rightly called
play on despite Socceroos claims the ball had crossed the line.
Holger Osieck introduced Emerton in the 65th minute for a tiring
Holman and Japan should have taken the lead a minute later with
their best chance.
Yuto Nagatomo found Shinji Okazaki with a pin-point cross, but
the striker glanced his header agonisingly wide with Schwarzer
beaten.
It was then Australia's turn to miss a golden opportunity when
Kewell cleverly beat Daiki Iwamasa to get one-on-one with Kawashima
but the goalkeeper made a brilliant save with his feet.
The end-to-end action continued in extra time, with Emerton
scuffing a good chance in the 103rd minute before Osieck handed
Kruse a enormous opportunity off the bench in place of Kewell.
The Melbourne Victory striker almost scored with his first
touch, forcing another brilliant save out of Kawashima with an
inch-perfect header.
But with the match seemingly heading for penalties, it was Japan
who made the breakthrough, breaching Australia's defence for only
the second time in the tournament.
Socceroos young and old sank with agony and were visibly
devastated when the final whistle blew and the Japanese camp
exploded into celebrations.