But although he managed to get his fingers under substitute Takuma Asano’s chipped shot in the 85th minute, the ball was deflected over the line at the far post by Behich. Goalkeeper Ryan, who plays for Real Sociedad in the Spanish first division, did more than his fair share to prevent Japan from scoring a second.

“I stepped up and we got back into the game very well,” said Hrustic, who was named man of the match. Ajdin Hrustic curled his attempt over the wall and off the bottom of the crossbar to score, raising the specter of a draw that would have left Japan pessimistic about its chances of finishing in the top two. It came in the 70th minute, shortly after a Morita penalty was overturned to give Australia a free kick from just outside the box. Japan had several opportunities to double its lead in the first half but all came up short, giving the Socceroos a chance to regroup at halftime and press for an equalizer. “I just focused on stopping the ball and finishing the chance.” “When Takumi got the ball I put my faith in him and ran for it,” the Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder said after his first appearance in a World Cup qualifier. It was Takumi Minamino’s eighth-minute cross that clipped Socceroo defender Aziz Behich and ended up at the feet of a wide-open Tanaka, who coolly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Mat Ryan and inside the far post for his first international goal.

Their presence immediately paid dividends, with Ito - who was suspended for the Saudi Arabia game - creating headaches for Australia’s defense early and often. Playing in the team’s traditional home ground for the first time since October 2019, Moriyasu - who according to local media reports was likely to face dismissal with anything less than a win - made three key changes to the lineup that fell to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, with Junya Ito starting on the right flank and Hidemasa Morita and Ao Tanaka slotting in as central attackers. “We’ve had a lot of tough games where we couldn’t get the result we wanted, but the players are working hard before every game to reach the World Cup and they put out everything they had to get today’s result,” Moriyasu said.

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