All even in top clash

The third match day in the last round of Asian qualifying for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, promised to be quite an exciting one, with Australia clashing with Japan – the two top teams in the group - on Tuesday. Following back-to-back wins against Oman and Jordan, the Japanese national team took on the highly rated ‘Socceroos’ in Brisbane.

The ‘Blue Samurai’, including VfB striker Shinji Okazaki, took the lead Yuzo Kurihara in the 65^th minute but the Australians hit back five minutes later, with Luke Wilkshire equalising. The game was to see the points shared as the game ended 1-1. Okazaki was involved for almost the entirety, being replaced in the 87^th minute by Hiroshi Kiyotake.