Kaiserslautern: Australia forward Harry Kewell said the team’s determined approach earned them their first win at a World Cup finals as they came from behind to beat Japan 3-1 in a pulsating finish on Monday.

“We’ve got a never-say-die attitude and we’ve got a strong squad,” said forward Kewell. “We gave away a goal that was maybe dubious but Tim (Cahill) got two great goals and John (Aloisi) capped off a wonderful performance by us.”

Australia went behind to a controversial first-half goal by Shunsuke Nakamura whose cross floated over Mark Schwarzer into the net although the keeper appeared to have been impeded.

Egyptian referee Esam Abd El Fatah waved away furious protests from Australia.

“In the end justice was done in this game,” Australia coach Guus Hiddink told reporters. “I think the referee will thank God for the result.

“It was a clear foul on the goalie. This team is nice to work with because they never give up.”

Australia’s players later said the Egyptian referee had apologised for allowing the goal.

“At the end of the day the referee made a mistake but everybody makes mistakes and I think it was big of him to admit it and overall I think he refereed the game okay,” goalkeeper Schwarzer told reporters.

“He said after the game to (Australia captain Mark Viduka) that God was on his side because the result went our way in the end...in the sense that it didn’t affect the result in the end.”

Viduka confirmed the referee had spoken to him about the incident. “I think it was obvious that he made a mistake but everybody makes a mistake. He said that God was with him today because he obviously made a mistake.”

Kawaguchi made fine saves from Viduka and Marco Bresciano but with Kewell clearly not fully recovered from a groin injury they lacked a killer instinct until Cahill’s equaliser.

Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi had stirred up controversy before the game, suggesting the Socceroos may play rough, a theory midfielder Bresciano did little to disprove when he felled Hidetoshi Nakata on the edge of his own box after 28 seconds.

TEAMS

Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Craig Moore (Josh Kennedy, 61), Lucas Neill, Scott Chipperfield, Luke Wilkshire (John Aloisi, 75), Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Jason Culina, Marco Bresciano (Tim Cahill, 53), Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell

Japan: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Keisuke Tsuboi (Teruyuki Moniwa, 56), Masashi Oguro, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Yuichi Komano, Shunsuke Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata, Takashi Fukunishi, Alex, Naohiro Takahara.

Referee: Esam Abd El Fatah (Egypt)