In cricket, England and India are Australia’s number one foes. In both rugby union and rugby league, England and New Zealand are the main opponents.
In swimming, it is generally the Americans, while in hockey it is the English and Dutch. But in football it is Japan that takes the cake. The Socceroos and the Samurai Blue have a burgeoning rivalry that has gone from strength to strength in the past 11 years. It is a competition between two of Asia’s top football nations who regularly battle it out for supremacy in the confederation.
Australia and Japan have played each other 24 times and the fixtures generally have been remarkably close. The Aussies have won seven of these games, the Japanese, eight, with nine draws. Their first meeting was at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, where the Socceroos prevailed 2-0. They would meet in three friendlies in 1968, before resuming hostilities in qualification for the 1970 World Cup. On that occasion, Australia won 3-1 and drew 1-1, but both teams ultimately failed to get to the tournament in Mexico.
The two countries played rarely over the next 30 years until Australia departed the Oceania confederation to join Asia. That move pitted the Socceroos against Japan regularly in a fight for Asian football dominance.
Their meeting at the 2006 World Cup in Germany in the group stage was a tense and enthralling contest. Japan took a 1-0 lead through a contentious goal. But Australia finished stronger, taking the bragging rights 3-1 thanks to a brilliant brace from Tim Cahill and then a late strike from John Aloisi. Samurai Blue exited the World Cup at the first stage while the green and gold went through to the round of 16.
The rivalry went up a notch a year later in the 2007 Asian Cup. Japan knocked Australia out of the tournament in the quarter-finals in Hanoi with a climatic 4-3 win on penalties. The two would meet again on the road to the 2010 World Cup, with the Socceroos edging it over two legs, with first a 0-0 draw and then a 2-1 win. But revenge would come in the 2011 Asian Cup final when Samurai Blue nicked the trophy with a goal in the 109th minute in Doha. Silverware was Japan’s and Aussie hearts were broken.
The two met again in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Again there was a hair’s breath between the two foes, with 1-1 draws in both Saitama and Brisbane. Both qualified for Brazil. Many expected Australia and Japan to meet once more in the 2015 Asian Cup, and they would have in the semi-finals had it not been for an upset by the UAE in the quarter-finals. This shock loss, coupled with Iran going out at the hands of Iraq, opened an easy path to the final for the Socceroos. The hosts made the most of it and won the Cup with a thrilling extra-time result over South Korea in Sydney.
Now with the World Cup in Russia beckoning, the stage is set for another important showdown. Two of Asia’s best sides have already met once in Melbourne as part of qualifying, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw at AAMI Park. Tomorrow they meet in Saitama in a game of huge significance.
Japan are on top of Group B with 17 points, while Saudi Arabia are second with 16 and Australia third on 16. With the Saudis surprisingly losing to the UAE 2-1, the winner of Thursday’s game could all but be on the plane to Russia next June. With a final qualifier against Thailand to come for the Socceroos, a draw with Japan and then a victory against the Thais may be enough to see Australia qualify.
Considering their political and national animosity in World War II, to today’s close economic and geographical ties, the relationship between Australia and Japan has changed dramatically in the past 70 years. It has gone from one end of the spectrum to another. But in football it is a friendly but fierce rivalry. There will no quarter given, no quarter asked when these old foes meet.
Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou said: “We have a great deal of respect for their team and players, they have respect for us. It’s always a close contest, I don’t think it’ll be different tomorrow night. I expect it to be very tight with so much at stake, from our perspective we’ll just go into the game like we have every other World Cup Qualifier so far and that’s trying to win.”
Pressure is mounting on Japan coach Vahid Halihodzic after the team’s slip up draw against Iraq in their last match. Failing to qualify for the World Cup will not be tolerated. All put together it makes for another fascinating clash in the history of this rising sporting rivalry.
