Japan down Socceroos in Asian Cup thriller

Japan beat Australia in penalty shootouts to advance to the semifinals of soccer's Asian Cup on July 21. Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi saved spot kicks from Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill, while Yuji Nakazawa smoked the ball past Australia's Mark Schwarzer to give Japan a 4-3 win.
The score had ended 1-1 after extra time at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi. Australia played the last 15 minutes of regular time with only 10 men after Vince Grella was controversially red-carded for elbowing.
Grella had opened the scoring in the 69th minute and Naohiro Takahara struck from close range three minutes later to tie. The match was a repeat of the teams' World Cup encounter last year in Kaiserslautern, Germany, which the Socceroos took out Japan 3 - 1.
Japan was knocked out of the running for their fourth consecutive Asian Cup title when they were beaten by Saudi Arabia in the following round. Also losing to South Korea in the game to determine third place, Japan finished fourth overall; a disappointing result for the champions of the three previous tournaments.