Australia 3 Japan 1

KAISERSLAUTERN, June 12: Tim Cahill made history in dramatic style, scoring Australia's first goals in a World Cup finals with two goals in the last six minutes pushing his team to a 3-1 win over Japan in their Group F opener on Monday.

A disputed goal from Shunsuke Nakamura had given Japan a 26th-minute advantage, his cross floating over keeper Mark Schwarzer who seemed to have been impeded by Atsushi Yanagisawa as he came to punch clear.

Egyptian referee Esam Abd El Fatah waved away furious protests from Australia.

But Cahill levelled in the 84th minute when a long throw was missed by goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and he drilled the ball in from eight metres.

Substitute Cahill made it 2-1 five minutes later with a long-range drive going in off the post.

To complete Japan's misery, substitute John Aloisi added a third goal after skipping through their exhausted defence in injury time.

“In the end justice was done in this game,” Australia coach Guus Hiddink told reporters. “I think the referee will thank God for the result.“It was a clear foul on the goalie. This team is nice to work with because they never give up.”

The Socceroos, playing in the finals for the first time since 1974, had hustled and bustled against a side content to pack the midfield.

Kawaguchi made fine saves from Mark Viduka and Marco Bresciano but with Harry Kewell clearly not fully recovered from a groin injury they lacked a killer instinct until Cahill's equaliser.

Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi had stirred up controversy before the game, suggesting the Socceroos may play rough, a theory midfielder Bresciano did little to disprove when he felled Hidetoshi Nakata on the edge of his own box after 28 seconds.

Luke Wilkshire also gave Alex an early close-up of the pitch but the Aussies soon settled, captain Viduka forcing a fine double-save from Kawaguchi at his near post.

Japan, who reached the last 16 as co-hosts in 2002, were forced to rely on the counter-attack. From one such break Takashi Fukunishi fired over, then a nice turn from Naohiro Takahara was let down with an inaccurate finish.

Bresciano tested Kawaguchi again and, after Nakamura's goal, the ineffective Kewell blazed narrowly over.

Hiddink threw on attacking midfielder Cahill and strikers Aloisi and Joshua Kennedy in a bold move after the break and it reaped a stunning dividend.

Japan's Brazilian coach Zico said: “We wasted a great opportunity. We had our chances but it was so hot today and that didn't help.

“It was 38 degrees Celsius (100.40F) but we lost concentration at a critical point and it cost us.”

World champions Brazil take on Croatia in their opening Group F tie in Berlin on Tuesday.

Teams:

AUSTRALIA: 1-Mark Schwarzer; 3-Craig Moore (19-Josh Kennedy (61)), 2-Lucas Neill, 14-Scott Chipperfield; 20-Luke Wilkshire (15-John Aloisi (75)), 7-Brett Emerton, 13-Vince Grella, 5-Jason Culina, 23-Marco Bresciano (4-Tim Cahill (53)); 9-Mark Viduka (c), 10-Harry Kewell.

JAPAN: 23-Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi; 19-Keisuke Tsuboi (2-Teruyuki Moniwa (56), 16-Masashi Oguro (90+1)), 5-Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (c), 22-Yuji Nakazawa; 3-Yuichi Komano, 10-Shunsuke Nakamura, 7-Hidetoshi Nakata, 15-Takashi Fukunishi, 14-Alex; 9-Naohiro Takahara, 13-Atsushi Yanagisawa (18-Shinji Ono (79)).

Referee: Esam Abd El Fatah (Egypt).—Reuters