• For all the jibes from outback types back in Australia that football
    was just a game for effeminate Mediterranean immigrants, this was a
    cast-iron refutation, a never-say-die performance hewn from the same
    granite as a Steve Waugh innings. – Duncan White, The Telegraph

  • What have we
    learned? Japan are a fine side and Australia’s three goals in eight
    minutes shows that the Socceroos have arrived. – The Scotsman

  • The
    pace was all the more impressive given that temperatures topped 30
    degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) inside the Fritz-Walter Stadium in
    Kaiserslautern. –Der Speigel

    • England wilted on Saturday, Australia never stopped, and that is why
      they won. Here is the moral of the match for the England team: heart is
      not temperature dependent. – Simon Barnes, The Times

    • Given that Cahill has played in
      England for several years now it was odd that he remained unaffected by the
      heat, since the temperature in Kaiserslautern was around five degrees higher
      than it was in Frankfurt on the day England found they could not get going
      against Paraguay. The Aussies don’t whinge about these things, they just keep
      going anyway, and they got their reward with three second-half goals. In case
      you didn’t know, that’s three more second-half goals than England have so far
      scored in two World Cup tournaments under Sven-Goran Eriksson – Paul Wilson, Worldcup blog (The Guardian)

    • Australia is the first team at this tournament to come
      back after being 1-0 down, and Cahill (twice) and John Aloisi became
      the second and third substitute to score at the 2006 World Cup. No
      other team has scored three goals in the last seven minutes in World
      Cup history. – BBC Sport

    • It was not the kind of Ashes which Australia had been yearning to take
      possession of. After a yawning wait of 32 years to renew their
      relationship with the World Cup, six minutes stood between Guus
      Hiddink’s Socceroos and dreams of glory being ground into dust. As any
      Everton supporter would readily confirm, it is at precisely such
      moments that a spark glints in Tim Cahill’s eyes. – George Caulkin, The Times
    • Egyptian referee Essam Abdullah el Fatah allowed the goal to stand, much to the dismay of the protesting Australians. What
      made the decision even stranger was el Fatah’s keenness to blow the
      whistle at even the slightest contact before and after the pivotal
      moment.– Aljazeerah

    • With two minutes to go, Everton midfielder Cahill crashed in an
      unstoppable shot that went in off the right post before Aloisi
      completed the stunning come-from-behind win with a virtuoso strike. – The Japan Times

    • It was a stunning turn of events for Japan goalkeeper
      Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. The
      veteran goalkeeper, who played for Japan’s team at the World Cup four
      years ago, surrendered three goals in final minutes Monday to see his
      team lose 3-1 to Australia in its Group F opening match. Kawaguchi
      played well throughout the match and was a potential player of the game
      before things turned sour in a hurry. – Mainichi Daily News
    • It was pure Hollywood stuff, them
      coming back at the death like that, and Brazil are up next … – Gemma Clarke, World cup blog (The Guardian)