It's been an emotional couple of weeks of Adelaide's Robbie Cornthwaite. The club's foundation defender has not only found himself unwittingly dragged into a spitting storm but he's also been the target of abuse from his own supporters for scoring a horror own goal in the away leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-final against Kashima Antlers But on Wednesday night in Adelaide, Cornthwaite banished all those demons with a tie-winning headed goal which secured a 2-1 aggregate win over the 5-time Japanese champions and a passage into the final four. The relieved 22-year-old Australia defender dived to nod home Cassio's precision centre for the only goal of a pulsating ACL encounter at Hindmarsh, afterwards revealing the anguish he'd suffered after putting through his own net a week before to jeopardise Adelaide's chances of making history. No Australian club has previously reached the semi-final stage of Asia's premier club competition. “I did try to put the own goal out of my mind as much as possible but the thing is other people do not let you forget it," Cornthwaite told local football website The World Game. “Even before kick-off while I was warming up I heard one of our supporters urge me 'to score for us and not for them this time'. It's always there at the back of your mind." The player affectionately known around Adelaide as Cornflake debuted for the Reds as an 18-year-old and has steadily developed into a reliable first-teamer under coach Aurelio Vidmar. He suffered heartbreak earlier in the year when overlooked for a berth in Graham Arnold's Olympic squad for Beijing after breaking into the under-23s during May and June. But the significance of being handed the No.2 shirt last worn by retired Reds legend Richie Alagich has not been lost of the lanky defender and he described his well-taken winner against Kashima as an "amazing feeling". "It’s something I’ll remember for a long time. It was like scripted for me after what happened in the first leg," he said. The goal will have also erased the tension of a fortnight which has seen Cornthwaite embroiled in a spitting controversy involving Melbourne's Ney Fabiano. The Victory's Brazilian import was earlier this month banned for nine matches - reduced to six games on appeal - for expectorating on Cornthwaite in the sides' heated round four clash. Melbourne have since relentlessly proclaimed Fabiano's innocence, pointing to his previously clean disciplinary record and even going all CSI by enlisting a biomechanist and a speech pathologist to support their argument that spittle had been projected because Fabiano was shouting in his native Portuguese. Cornthwaite has remained tight-lipped on the latest incident in a simmering feud between two clubs which invoke a degree of hostility whenever they meet. His supporters believe Melbourne's passion to overturn their star signing's ban ignores Cornthwaite's unblemished A-League reputation and the fact that, although occasionally naïve in his defending, he remains a reliable professional. Few consider Cornthwaite a player who would, or even probably could, fake his reaction to Fabiano's discharge in his direction, whether accidental or otherwise. The challenge most likely stems from Melbourne's desire to reinforce their encouraging opening to the fourth A-League season. Top-of-the-table and unbeaten after five rounds despite twice finishing with 10 men, Ernie Merrick's former champions are clearly serious on putting a chequered 2007/08 behind them. Sydney are level with Melbourne on 11 points with Adelaide four points adrift in third. The Central Coast Mariners and reigning champions Newcastle Jets are tied for fourth place. Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com Australian Soccer News Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

If there was a sense of inevitability ahead of the draw for the final round of World Cup qualifying in Asia, neither Japan coach Takeshi Okada, nor Australia coach Pim Verbeek let it show. Both reacted casually when Japan and Australia were drawn together in Group A, along with Middle-Eastern sides Qatar and Bahrain and potential dark horses Uzbekistan. The two teams met in a classic 2006 FIFA World Cup encounter, in which the Socceroos came from behind to register a thrilling 3-1 group-stage win courtesy of a late Tim Cahill brace and an emphatic John Aloisi strike. In a statement released by the JFA, Japan coach Okada claimed that "(w)hen you think about the destinations and travel involved, it probably could have been worse." He is right. While Japan and Australia will both feel confident of booking one of the two qualification places available in their group, Group B of qualifying will cause nightmares for fans of Korea Republic, Iran, DPR Korea, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - all of whom have at one time qualified for the finals of the World Cup. Nevertheless Japan and Australia will no doubt eye each other warily in the build-up to their two clashes, set down for February 2 in Japan and June 17 in Australia. While most Japanese fans were gracious in defeat following their team's catastrophic collapse in Kaiserlautern two years ago, scratch the surface of the average Blue Samurai supporter and a sense of injustice still lingers. Japan were just six minutes away from beating the Socceroos, with Zico's side wilting under the brutal summer sun at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion. Both Zico and Guus Hiddink are long gone from their adopted national teams, and an Australian outfit that has often been accused of technical deficiencies can no longer rely solely on their superior fitness levels to get them over the line. That was made abundantly clear when Japan beat Australia on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the quarter-finals of the 2007 Asian Cup. Looming large as a potential obstacle for both teams is Uzbekistan; a team studded with European-based players who also turned in an admirable performance at the 2007 Asian Cup. The Uzbekis will be looking to spring some upsets along the way in a 10-match qualification campaign, with the two third-placed finishers in each group squaring off against each other for the right to face the champions of Oceania in a winner-takes-all playoff. Both Japan and Australia will feel confident of avoiding that scenario, but with both sides itching for revenge and Australia looking to flex their muscle in their first ever Asian qualification campaign, the fledgling rivalry between the two countries could be set to boil over once again. Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com J.League News Tags Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

For nations like Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Korea and now Australia, the Asian Cup is second only to the World Cup in importance and not only that, it is the one major competition that is, at present, winnable for such teams.

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has a problem and, like so much in life, it boils down to a question of balance. Not long ago, he was merely interim Socceroos coach Graham Arnold, the man tasked with plugging the unenviable gap created by Guus Hiddink's departure after the World Cup. Now the interim tag has been binned, and the former international striker has his heart set on the long-term post of coaching Australia to the 2010 World Cup. How does he snare the nation's top footballing job for the immediate future? Well holding aloft July's Asian Cup would of course be excellent interview material for the man who hasn’t yet won all over his critics despite his approachable demeanour and a string of OK results.

Global Goals is the new and exiciting system for ranking international goalscorers and the goals they score in international football. The current Top 5 in the Asian confederation is. 1. Yasser Al Qahtani (Saudi Arabia) 2. John Aloisi (Australia) 3. Lee Dong Gook (Korea Republic) 4. Naohiro Takahara (Japan) 5. Tim Cahill (Australia) For the complete Asian Top 30, other confederations Top 30, the overall Top 30 and each countries Top 10, please log on to www.global-goals.co.uk

Asian Champions League Draw 2007 Australian A-League clubs Adelaide and Sydney have been handed tough draws in the 2007 Asian Champions League as clubs from Down Under make their debut in Asia's premier club competition. Group A Al Arabi (Kuwait) Al-Wahda (UAE) Al-Rayyan ( Qatar ) Al-Zawar'a (Iraq) Group B Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan) Kuwait SC (Kuwait) Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) Esteghlal ( Iran ) Group C