IN-DEPTH NEWS

Cahill double turns the tables on Japan

Tim Cahill brought his goalscoring talents to the world's biggest stage as he scored twice in the last six minutes to turn the Group F opener against Japan on its head and go down in history as the scorer of Australia's first ever goals in the World Cup Finals.

Due to lack of fitness following a knee injury that sidelined him at the end of the Premiership season, Cahill started on the bench as Australia began with the greater purpose and penetration. Mark Viduka's strength and flair threatened to unlock the Japanese defence early on but it was Japan who went ahead in highly controversial circumstances.

As goalkeeper Mark Schwartzer came to claim a floated ball from in from the Japanese right, he was hit by the leaping Atsushi Yanagisawa but instead of blowing for a foul, the referee allowed the goal to stand.

Much consternation on the Australia bench ensued, with coach Guus Hiddink involved in a shoving incident with a Japanese official that, fortunately for him, did not result in him being expelled from the touchline.

Australia were visibly shaken and almost immediately lost the shape and forward momentum that had characterised the first twenty minutes of the match.

So, with the scoreline unchanged at half time, Hiddink threw Cahill on in the 52nd minute, followed by 6 4" striker Juoshua Kennedy and, eventually, John Aloisi. With the big men on, the kind of aerial attack so familiar to Evertonians when Duncan Ferguson is on the pitch became the Socceroos' main strategy, but it was almost completely ineffective until an 84th-minute corner wasn't cleared by Japan and Cahill swept the loose ball through a crowd of legs to level the scores.

Then, with a minute of normal time remaining, Cahill engineered space on the edge of the box and unleashed a superb effort that cannoned off the post and in to send the Aussies into delirium.

Aloisi's surging run in injury time took him past two defenders allowing him to fire emphatically past the 'keeper and make it 3-1, but Cahill, who was his country's top scorer in qualifying, had already cemented his place as the hero of the hour.

The win was crucial for Australia's hopes of emerging from a group that also contains Brazil and Croatia.