DOHA: Japan and South Korea will represent tradition and consistency in Tuesday's Asian Cup semifinals, whereas Australia and Uzbekistan are the upstarts bringing some novelty to the continental competition. While Australia and Uzbekistan have advanced to the last four for the first time, Japan and South Korea, the other semifinal pair, have five titles and 12 semifinal appearances between them. Australia is playing only its second Asian Cup after switching from the Oceania federation and already has done better than four years ago, when it reached the quarterfinals. Uzbekistan lost twice in the quarterfinals before getting through this time. Australia reached the last four with a sapping extra-time win over defending champion Iraq thanks to a late Harry Kewell goal, but its German coach Holger Osieck is confident his players will recover physically. “We shouldn't put too much into it because if you talk about it then it really catches you. No, our players, they should recover OK and do all the stuff that is requested in order to get them back in shape. Osieck told The Associated Press that “everybody will be ready, mentally and physically” for the challenge of an Uzbekistan side sprinkled with dangerous players such as Maksim Shatskikh and Server Djeparov. “What I've seen here is impressive,” Osieck said of his Central Asia opponents. “They looked a very solid team and they have some excellent individuals, So what counts now is the actual state and not what happened in the past.” Defender Lucas Neill said the Socceroos “owed to themselves” to do better than four years ago. “We've put ourselves in a position where we can win the title. We've just knocked out the cup holders so the title's up for grabs and we want it,” he said after Saturday's win over Iraq. “They (Uzbekistan) are a good team, very European style of football. We go into the game with confidence knowing they'll play good football, but that we can perhaps expose them in certain areas. “They'll be full of confidence, the first team into the semifinals, and having an extra day of preparation. Seeing us go to extra time, they'll think they have a physical edge over us, but I assure you there's enough spirit in this camp to overcome all that,” Neill said. Australia beat Uzbekistan twice during qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, but experienced goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer said that was no cause for confidence of a repeat on Tuesday. “They're vastly improved from what they were like when we played them a couple of years ago in the World Cup qualifiers,” Schwarzer said. “They've played very well at this tournament and they deserve to be in the semifinals. We've got to do our homework on them.” Japan has won three of the past five Asian titles but has a losing record overall (34-10) against South Korea. At the Asian Cup, though, the teams have won a game each, with South Korea winning on penalties in the third-place playoff four years ago. The Blue Samarai, coached by Alberto Zaccheroni – a man to have achieved the rare feat of coaching each of Italy's big three clubs Milan, Internazionale and Juventus – goes into the match bolstered by a 3-2 quarterfinal win over host Qatar in which it twice came from behind. South Korea, which progressed with a 1-0 extra-time win over Iran, will be eager to make up for a consistent record of failure in the knockout stages of this tournament. It has only once failed to make the quarterfinals in 12 appearances but has not won it since the last of its two titles in 1960. “We know very well each other,” South Korea captain Park Ji-sung said. “It will be a great match, Japan is a great team, but if we play like (the quarterfinal) we can win.”
