Australia–Japan football rivalry
The Australia–Japan football rivalry is a sports rivalry that exists between the national association football teams of each country, regarded as one of Asia's biggest football rivalries. The rivalry is a relatively recent one, born from a number of highly competitive matches between the two teams since Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006. The two teams have played each other in several significant matches, including a World Cup group stage match and the 2011 Asian Cup Final.
2010 Japan national football team
The Japan national football team in 2010, managed by head coach Takeshi Okada, began by competing in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification and the 2010 East Asian Football Championship in amongst other international friendly matches in the build-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals where they would finish in 9th place. Afterwards the team, managed first by interim head coach Hiromi Hara and finally head coach Alberto Zaccheroni, would close out 2010 with several more international friendly matches as they prepared for the 2011 Asian Cup and the 2011 Copa América in the following year.