Japan 0- Australia 0

Australian players raising there hands in the air in celebration at the fulltime whistle was a tell-tale sign. They had a mission to come away with a result at Yokohama, and as ugly as it looked, it was mission accomplished. For 90 minutes there was surge after surge of Japanese attacking play that could just not find the final pass, or moment of brilliance to strike a killer blow. It seemed like the dam would break and the goals would come flooding, particularly in the last quarter of an hour where we continually lost the ball in midfield.

Tim Cahill was visibly upset at being replaced towards the final whistle. Understandable for a top flight competitive athlete. But it is a manager's job to marshall the talent and keep the eye on the prize. Keeping Cahill and Kennedy on the pitch, together, may have been the most obvious choice, indeed the Japanese probably expected the move. However, sticking with the lone striker paid dividends for Verbeek in terms of our chances of qualification to South Africa. Granted, not so much for the purists who despise the one striker solution.

Schwarzer once again pulled off routine yet solid saves to keep Australia in the match. Craig Moores experience in top flight football helped put the lock on the chain. Lady luck slipped the key into her breast pocket, and we survived. A deflected shot spraying wide when a Japanese goal seemed certain provided an elegant synopsis. Japan, after making this match the focus of a 5 week training camp, and in front of a fantastic but expectant home crowd, was under too much pressure to get a win, and they simply could not step up. For the Aussies to come away from the game with a draw is one thing. To keep Japan scoreless at home with just a couple of days in camp, a weakened midfield and a raft of injuries is another. Although we are not mathematically there yet, we have one big fat green and gold toe in South Africa.