Better late than never...

Times have changed. Ten years ago this would not be happening: 3:00pm GMT kickoff on a FA Cup weekend and punters have packed Hong Kong bars to watch Australia and Japan contest the Asian Cup Final. Prior to the World Cup 2002 in Japan/South Korea even most football enthusiasts would be hard pressed to name an Asian footballer outside of Hidetoshi Nakata.

Since the host nations shocked the footballing world in 2002 they've given us the household names like Park Ji-sung and Shunsuke Nakamura, as well as emerging talent in Cha Du-ri, Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda (not to mention adding the talent of the Australian sub-continent to the Asian Federation in 2005).

As the standard of players has increased East Asia has overhauled the Middle East as the stronger footballing force in the region. Saturday night's final was only the second occasion that a team from the Middle East failed to make the final – the other, in 2004, when China lost to Japan in Beijing. The failure of the Middle Eastern teams, not only in this Asian Cup but also at the World Cup and in World Cup qualifying, is a watershed for Asian football. Although, to be fair, Japan's rise is no recent flash in the pan – they had won three of the past five finals prior to the 2011 final in Doha.

While Japan have seen their most famous sons Nakata and Nakamura call it day with their international careers, Australia have been propelled in this Asian Cup by veterans of their golden generation – Mark Schwarzer, Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Lucas Neil and, in particularly good form, Harry Kewell. For these players, all in their 30's, the final was a last chance for international honours. It would be very surprising to see any of them, should they qualify, in Brazil 2014.

Leading up to the final things certainly looked positive for the Australians. They had cruised into the final, defeating Uzbekistan 6-0 in the semi-finals and Japan's young playmaker Shinji Kagawa would miss the final due to a fractured foot. Most of the smaller Asian teams had found it a tough task going up against the physically stronger Australians. Yet the only team to really match the Australians physically, South Korea, were knocked out by Japan in the semi-final – a match so open and entertaining it threatened to dwarf the final. In the end it nearly did.

While the open, end to end play extravaganza in the semi-final showed off both Korean and Japanese technical prowess, the openness of the final was due to the frantic and chaotic pace of the match. Without Kagawa pulling the strings in the midfield the Japanese had difficulty settling down and controlling the match and had to wait until the second half for their only real chance in regulation – a pinpoint cross from Yuto Nagatomo and a great header from Shinji Okazaki that just sneaked outside the post.

The Australians had the lion's share of goal scoring opportunities, and had Harry Kewell kept the same form he'd shown earlier in the tournament they would have run out quite easy winners. The best chance coming in the second half after Kewell headed the ball past the last defender but he failed to convert the subsequent one on one chance against the Japanese keeper Kawashima.

As the match progressed to the end of regulation and into stoppage time the Australians looks visibly tired – strange considering it was the Japanese who had to go all the way to penalties to secure their place in the final. Uncharacteristically slack on defense, the Australians allowed substitute Tadanari Lee to sneak unmarked into the area and finish a gorgeous volley with just ten minutes left in extra time. The cross again provided by one of the standout players of the knockout rounds left-back Nagatomo.

Japan's win, while adding to their recent domination of the event over the past twenty years also heralds the dawn of a hopeful era. Kagawa is 21 years old, captain Hasebe is 27 and Honda and Nagatomo are 24 – all already feature in the top European leagues (Nagatomo just finalised a loan deal to Inter Milan a few hours ago) and should be in their prime for the next World Cup. This summer the team will head to Argentina for the Copa América as one of two specially invited nations outside the CONMBOL region. The other nation, Mexico, will send their U-23 Olympic team reinforced with five senior players but Japan has yet to announce who they will send. While matching a full strength side against top South American opposition presents a fantastic opportunity for the side, many of the European players will be in desperate need of rest after a non-stop year at the World Cup, Asian Cup and regular club season. Still, whoever features, the experience will certainly help as the young side looks to adapt itself to competing against top international opposition.

Unfortunately as the Japanese are ascending, the Australians are at the end of their golden generation. For the core of their team, veterans of the Premier League for most of the 2000's, this was their last major international competition. At the moment we haven't seen the quality of Cahill and Kewell coming through the ranks. Qualifying for the next World Cup will be hugely significant for the national football side. Should they fail to make it to the finals in 2014 Australian football could find itself floundering in a nation already preoccupied on other sports.