Australia has fallen short of its goal to win its first piece of Football Silverware after losing to rivals Japan in the 2nd half of extra time.
The match was played at a fast pace with the Socceroos dominating play in the first half and creating several chances goal-scoring chances. McKay, Kewell and Cahill were all gifted with opportunities to put Australia in the lead in the first and second halves of normal time, a lead which would have been an accurate reflection of the match. However, the ball did not bounce in Australia's favour (literally) and several chances were missed in front of goal.
Schwarzer was barely called into action during his record-breaking 88th cap for the Socceroos tonight, and could only watch as a perfectly struck shot by Japanese substitute Tadanari Lee whistled into the back of his net to give his team the 1-0 victory in the 109th minute.
Although Australia played brilliantly throughout the match, they did not finish the chances they created. Japan, on the other hand, were able to keep pressing tirelessly throughout the 120 minutes (even though their semi-final match 3 days ago had also gone into extra time).
The Asian Cup Trophy was awarded to Japan who will hold on to it until 2015 when Australia will fight on home soil to claim their first ever Asian Cup Title.
