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Moriyasu was under significant pressure going into the game and
could be seen with tears in his eyes during the pre-match
national anthems as speculation grew over his position at the
helm of the team.
But a late own goal from Aziz Behich capped an improved
performance from Moriyasu's team and earned Japan a 2-1 win over
the Socceroos after two defeats in their previous three games.
"We've been preparing ourselves diligently, and that led to this
result," said Moriyasu, who took over as Japan coach following
the 2018 World Cup.
"We were under great pressure, but the players, coaches, the
entire staff, came together as one and stood tall."
Japan went into the game with only three points having lost the
opening game in Asia's final round of preliminaries to Oman
before notching up a narrow win over China.
A 1-0 defeat in Jeddah last week by Saudi Arabia increased the
scrutiny on Moriyasu as Japan slipped off the pace being set at
the top of Group B.
Only the top two teams in the group are guaranteed to qualify
for Qatar 2022 and a loss against the Australians would have
left the Japanese nine points adrift of the automatic berths.
An early goal from midfielder Ao Tanaka, brought into the side
at the expense of Gaku Shibasaki, gave Japan the perfect start,
although Ajdan Hrustic's stunning free kick levelled the scores
until Behich's late own goal.
"We came in with two games against Australia that could each
mean a six-point swing in the table," Japan captain Maya Yoshida
said, according to Kyodo.
"We were at least able to get the first one out of the way, now
we have more work to do."
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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