The Football Tragic

Well, 4-0 over a host nation (probably the best of the four, incidentally) in a crunch game. You can't ask for much more than that.

Or can you?

You could perhaps have asked for more from the two strikers, who, after providing the physical presence to put our opponents on the back foot early, did pitifully little until Mark Viduka began to find Tim Cahill such a congenial provider.

You could perhaps have asked for the midfielders (Jason Culina in particular) to have been less leaden-footed in the second half, when the Thais (let us be frank) ran rings around us in that area of the park.

But you can't be over-critical. The Socceroos finally proved that this tournament does mean something to them, and Graham Arnold's changes were good ones. David Carney was lively, Michael Beauchamp steady, Mark Milligan outstanding.

Luke Wilkshire's move to the right was long overdue, and worked well. The substitution of Harry Kewell for an ineffectual John Aloisi was appropriate, and the addition of Tim Cahill (who perhaps should have started ahead of a sharper but still indifferent Mark Bresciano) was ultimately decisive.

Now then: Japan.

Apart from that surreal afternoon in Kaiserslautern, our recent record against one of our oldest rivals has not been good. And they are running into form; Naohiro Takahara and Seiichiro Maki now appear a menacing front pairing, and with Shunsuke Nakamura showing flashes of his best form, the Japanese must go into Saturday's game as favourites.

The key could be the set-pieces. Japan possess two very capable strikers of the dead ball in Nakamura and Yasuhito Endo, who scored a lovely goal against Vietnam from a free kick just outside the box. We have already shown, both in this tournament and just prior, that our defence from set-pieces is inadequate. We will need Mark Schwarzer to be well and truly on his mettle.

Should Arnold make any changes to the revamped team? Lucas Neill is likely to return, despite Milligan's splendid (match-winning, in my opinion) performance at the heart of the defence against Thailand; with Vince Grella once again looking shaky, would it be feasible to restore Neill to defence while giving Milligan Grella's role in midfield?

Arnold has shown enormous faith in Grella, and I can't see him wavering from it against Japan. In addition, Grella will surely be asked to play on Nakamura, whom he would know from the latter's Reggina days.

David Carney did enough to suggest he should be given another go in the left wing-back role, although if truth be told, the left flank was left exposed quite often in the course of the Thailand game. Carney did, at least, show some unexpectedly good defensive instincts at times.

I still feel there is room for Archie Thompson up front. With Aloisi looking blunt and battle-worn, and with Japan's central defenders seeming rather less vulnerable to physical threats than at previous events, I would opt for Thompson as Mark Viduka's partner.

And no, I haven't forgotten what Aloisi did to the Japanese in Germany. But that was at a time when their confidence and self-belief was shot to smithereens; at the moment, the Japanese look anything but short of confidence.