Japan 'keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi is relishing the prospect of a possible quarterfinal showdown with Australia at the Asian Cup next month and says his teammates are "burning" to avenge the defeat in their opening match at last summer's World Cup.
Australia, which will be making its debut at the continental championship after joining the Asian Football Confederation last year, went on a late three-goal rampage to sentence Japan to a 3-1 defeat in Kaiserslautern.
Japan never recovered and went on to draw 0-0 with Croatia before making a first-round exit on the back of a 4-1 hiding by Brazil. Australia reached the second round but was sunk by a controversial late penalty in a 1-0 loss to eventual winner Italy.