Shining Cahill guides Socceroos to semis with 2-0 win over China

Hosts Australia downed China 2-0 through captain Tim Cahill's glistening brace to cruise to the semi-finals at the AFC Asian Cup here on Thursday.

Veteran Cahill broke the deadlock with a stylish bicycle kick after knocking down Chinese skipper Zheng Zhi in a fierce air tackle following a corner and made a re-action acrobatic shot to beat keeper Wang Dalei in the 48th minute. The in-form hitman made his second on 65 mintues with a trademark header following a pinpoint left wing cross.

The hosts dominated the game with much more possession and threats facing a conservative Chinese side, adding up a defensive midfielder Cai Huikang and adopted a deep-lying stragety, which they haven't used in any of the three group matches.

The visitors paid for that as their defence seemed to be shaky under the soaring Australian attack. Another veteran Mark Bresiano pulled the strings in the midfield and made some threatening set-pieces for the hosts.

Chinese striker Wu Lei, midfielder Wu Xi, and central back Zhang Linpeng had three chances in the whole game, but were overshadowed by a much-better opposing side. The hosts could have scored another three or more goals after the two-goal lead in the second half, but a focused Wang Dalei made a series of top-class saves to prevent the visitors from further humiliation.

Australia will meet either Japan or the Unied Arab Emirates in the semi-final. Endi