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The squad has been dogged by criticism after a lacklustre game in the Middle East and growing concerns about the age of the players.

Alex Brosque at 27 was the youngest man on the field when the Oman mastch kicked off - but Cahill was unconcerned about that or the criticism.

"I'm bored of it," he said after tonight's match where Cahill was ubiquitous in attack, midfield and defence. "I'm bored of listening to that sort of stuff.

"The thing is we play for our country because we love it. We don't play here to get bagged. They should support football and stop bagging us."

Cahill was pleased to have held Japan to the 1-1 draw, despite the disappointment of failing to find the back of the net himself.

"The thing is I create chances, I score goals, tonight I was unfortunate, but, uhh, team-player - so I really enjoyed it," he said.

"I thought it was a good result. We dug in well. It's always a bit unfortunate to get a man sent off but it's always great to play at home in front of a home crowd but we put in a great performance.

"It's been really tough but we are professionals and play in some of the biggest leagues in the world and still enjoy it.

"I enjoyed tonight, the lads enjoyed it, it's just unfortunate that we didn't get the result."

The game was marred by two questionable red cards and a dubious penalty for the Socceroos in an otherwise thrilling and entertaining 90 minutes.

Cahill added: "I thought some of the red cards were harsh but this is what happens in football. You can be on the harsh end of some decisions, but you have to take it and move on.

"It's massive but we need to build on it. It's a good result and the sending off changed things.

"We've got a good squad, good players - we just need to believe in ourselves and each other and make sure we're all available for selection."

Skipper Lucas Neill echoed his sentiments, and paid tribute to their Blue Samurai opponents.

"We would have taken the draw before the game," he said. "It's been a tough two weeks and the way things went with the red card ,we had to dig in and then we conceded an unfortunate goal.

"But as always a little bit of Aussie spirit came into play and the crowd got behind us and we could have gone on to win it."

But he admitted: "We would have stolen it.

"No excuses, we were a little bit fatigued, we stepped up and I'm sure that we will go on and win plenty of games. If we make sure that we don't lose at home, we'll be there or thereabouts.

"We'll take the draw. Both teams were pleased with it. If Japan keep beating their opposition and we keep beating ours then we'll both be on our way to Brazil.

"They are a fantastic team this is arguably the best Japanese team that's ever been put out. If we can keep pushing each other that's only going to close the gap on the rest of the world.

"But let's give credit to our boys. We're been playing against a very good team, and we're showing that spirit... Down to ten men, fantastic from everybody."

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