Team Japan became the first four-time winner of the AFC Asian Cup with an exciting extra-time victory over Australia last month. Timely, dramatic goals framed the Samurai Blue’s rise to the top of Asian soccer, which follows the team’s historic finish in the 2010 World Cup.

The Asian Cup tournament nearly opened with a Japanese letdown against Jordan. Shortly before the end of a scoreless first half, a Jordanian striker’s shot deflected off Maya Yoshida ’s foot, flipping the ball past goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima into Japan’s net. But Yoshida redeemed himself when the team still trailed in stoppage time. Midfielder Makoto Hasebe sent a beautiful ball across the goal area and Yoshida leapt high and headed in the game-tying shot.

In the second match, against Syria, Team Japan once again overcame adversity to score a dramatic victory. Frenetic opening action culminated with a pinballing series of shots that led to Japan’s first goal. Syria equalized in the second half on a penalty shot after Kawashima earned a red card for leaping across the legs of a Syrian forward. Backup keeper Shusaku Nishikawa held the Syrians scoreless thereafter and Japan struck back with its own penalty kick, sealing the win for the Samurai Blue.

Japan next went on to humiliate Saudi Arabia, 5-0, despite losing Kawashima to a one-game suspension and Keisuke Honda and Daisuke Matsui to lower-leg injuries. Nishikawa again shut out his opponents and reserve forward Shinji Okazaki scored a hat trick for the Samurai. The lopsided win put Japan first in its group, creating a quarterfinal matchup against host Qatar, whom Japan had defeated just once in their past eight meetings.

Qatar scored first when Sebastian Soria streaked down the field and juked a defender before firing the ball past Kawashima. Japan evened things up soon after when Okazaki chipped the ball over the keeper and Shinji Kagawa headed it in. The game remained tied until Yoshida again made a major mistake, committing his second foul of the match and earning a red card — and giving Qatar a free kick that was converted into a go-ahead goal.

Despite being a man down, Japan rallied behind Kagawa’s second goal, a beautiful solo effort in which he spun away from a scrum at the top of the penalty area and rifled in a close-range shot. Kagawa completed the comeback when he was tackled roughly at the goal mouth but still managed to poke the ball to Masahiko Inoha, who drove it home for the game-winner.

Japan’s semifinal match against South Korea opened with a successful Taeguk Warriors penalty shot, but they didn’t hold the lead long. Yuto Nagamoto sprinted down the left sideline a few minutes later, drawing the keeper out before feeding Ryoichi Maeda for the equalizer.

The match remained tied into extra time, when Hajime Hosogai put home the deflection of Honda’s penalty kick. With seconds remaining before Japan would advance, South Korea scored on the ricochet of a free kick when Hwang Jae-won drove the rebound into the net. This sent the match into penalty kicks to break the tie, but Korea couldn’t score and three of Japan’s first four kickers converted, lifting the Samurai Blue to the championship game.

The final match against Australia would be the sort of contest true soccer aficionados love: low-scoring with crisp, exciting, and nearly mistake-free play — except for the missed opportunities on goal. Japan would be without the services of Kagawa, who broke a bone in his foot during the previous match, but the team found help from an unexpected source.

Both teams traded near-misses in the first half. The Socceroos couldn’t capitalize on a breakaway and Kawashima pushed aside a header attempt on a nice corner kick. Japan failed at several chances, as Maeda shot high from the top of the area and a nifty series of moves by Yuto Nagatomo went for naught when he fed Shinji Okazaki, who shot wide of the goal.

Australia had an excellent opportunity early in the second half when a shot to the corner from Luke Wilkshire deflected off the crossbar. Kawashima had misjudged the ball, but redeemed himself minutes later with a brilliant leg save off a breakaway from Harry Kewell. Regular time ended scoreless, however, and Australia once again quickened Japan’s pulse with an open shot that flew just wide of the goal mouth and another header that Kawashima again turned away with a great save.

Japan had a few chances of its own, but finally capitalized on the biggest mistake of the match: an unmarked Tadanari Lee just outside of the goal area. Australia may have neglected him, but Nagatomo didn’t, giving him a perfect waist-high cross that Lee volleyed into the left side of the net for the deciding goal.

Team Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni later explained that he’d pushed Nagatomo, a defender, forward in the second half to overload the Aussie’s defense. His strategy worked, and his players executed it flawlessly. Honda was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Kawashima took home MVP of the final after holding his opponents scoreless.

So much young talent bodes well for Japan’s Samurai Blue as they build toward the 2014 World Cup. With its recent success in reaching the second round for the first time on foreign soil, Japan is poised to continue its rise when the team heads to Brazil.