MELBOURNE, Australia — Tim Cahill scored two second-half goals as Australia beat Japan 2-1 on Wednesday to finish the last round of Asian World Cup qualifying with an unbeaten record.

Both Japan and Australia had already booked their berths for South Africa 2010 ahead of the final qualifier and only top place in Group 1 was at stake.

Australia ended qualifying atop the group with 20 points, five clear of second-place Japan, and conceded only one goal in eight matches.

Cahill reproduced his performance from the 2006 World Cup group match against Japan in Germany, when he scored twice to guide Australia to a remarkable comeback win.

The Everton midfielder did it again in front of almost 70,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"It's fantastic for the team to have a player like that, because you know he'll always do what he has to do, and that's scoring goals," Australia coach Pim Verbeek said.

Japan dominated much of a lackluster first half before unmarked Marcus Tulio Tanaka darted forward to head in a Kengo Nakamura corner in the 40th minute.

The Australians went on the attack early in the second half and were rewarded when Cahill equalized in the 59th after rising in the box to nod in a floated Vince Grella free kick.

Cahill capped a man-of-the-match performance in the 77th when he eluded the Japan defense to gather a Nicky Carle corner and knock the ball past Japan 'keeper Seigo Narazaki.

"I'm very proud of the players," Verbeek said. "At the end of a very long and tough season, they still had the power and courage to fight back from 1-0 in the first half."

Cahill was back in the side after skipping last week's match against Bahrain with muscle soreness. Lucas Neill, who missed last week's match while serving a suspension, was also back for Australia.

Verbeek said Cahill's effort was even more significant considering it was his 48th match of the season.

"He's a great example for every Australian football player."

Australia's best scoring opportunity of the first half came in the 7th minute when a powerful shot from midfielder Mile Sterjovski was deflected over the bar by Narazaki. Cahill attempted to head in the resulting corner moments later, but it went wide.

Japan engineered several attacking forays in the Australian half, but its best chance came in the 19th minute when a Shinji Okazaki strike sailed over the bar after Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer sliced a clearing kick.

"It's starting to sink in now. It's been a great campaign by everyone," Neill said. "This is great reward in front of a great crowd."

Neill prevented another Japanese goal moments before halftime when he headed away a free kick from the goal line after Nakamura's attempt beat Schwarzer.

"There were some excellent plays from our team tonight, but we need work on our ability to better move the ball from the midfield and into the opposing team's area," Japan coach Takeshi Okada said. "We won't see any drastic changes to this team because of the result tonight."

Lineups:

Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Jade North, Shane Stefanutto, Vince Grella, Jason Culina, Nicky Carle (Scott McDonald, 78), Mile Sterjovski, Tim Cahill (Dario Vidosic, 85), Josh Kennedy, Rhys Williams (Jacob Burns 78).

Japan: Seigo Narazaki, Atsuto Uchida, Yuto Nagatomo, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yasuyuki Konno, Yuki Abe, Hideo Hashimoto, Daisuke Matsui (Kisho Yano, 68), Kengo Nakamura, Shinji Okazaki, Keiji Tamada.