ko_jpnvaus_03.jpgYoshikatsu Kawaguchi was the hero for Japan as they beat Australia 4-3 in a penalty shoutout to progress to the semifinals of the Asian Cup.

The score was 1-1 at full time when John Aloisi’s 70th minute opener was cancelled out by Naohiro Takhara from close range two minutes later. Australia then played the last 14 minutes with 10 men after Vince Grella was sent off for elbowing.

But Kawaguchi took centre stage when he saved from both Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill before Yuji Nakazawa scored the winning penalty emphatically passed Mark Schwarzer. Japan will now take on either Saudi Arabia or Uzbekistan in the semi-final next Wednesday in Hanoi.

In another quaterfinal, Iraq eliminated tournament co-host Vietnam 2-0 to qualify for the Asian Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1976. Iraq made the perfect start when skipper Younis Mahmoud opened the scoring whithin the first 90 seconds and then double the lead with a sweetly taken free kick in the 64th. They will now take either Iran or South Korea in the semi-final.

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