Former Australia star Tim Cahill is expecting game-changing scenes both inside and outside Qatar's venues, where he pictures the Socceroos and Japan's Samurai Blue once more striding onto the biggest stage at soccer's 2022 World Cup, which kicks off one year from Sunday.
Now retired and a 2022 World Cup global ambassador, the 41-year-old former Everton marksman relived memories of Australia's past battles with Japan, while hailing the efforts of Japan's latest wave of exports to Europe as an indicator of growth in Asia.
Cahill hit a brace in Australia's late 3-1 comeback win over Japan in their 2006 World Cup opener, which heralded the beginning of a football rivalry between the two nations.