Australia's Robbie Kruse (2nd L) celebrates with teammates after scoring their sixth goal against Uzbekistan during their 2011 Asian Cup semi-final soccer match at Khalifa stadium in Doha January 25, 2011. REUTERS

DOHA, Qatar - Australia swept aside Uzbekistan 6-0 on Tuesday to reach its first Asian Cup final.

Australia, which had only scored seven goals in the entire tournament until Tuesday, will face Japan on Saturday after the three-time champion beat South Korea on penalties in the first semifinal.

Harry Kewell put the Australians ahead in the fifth minute with a crisp left-foot finish from just inside the box after Matt McKay's pass.

Uzbekistan strung together some neat passes but its vulnerability in defense was exposed again in the 34th, when Tim Cahill headed down a free kick and Sasa Ognenovski had time to take a touch before ramming the ball home for his first international goal.

David Carney made it 3-0 in the 65th after being played in by McKay, and Uzbekistan's evening got worse when Ulugbek Bakaev was sent off two minutes later for his second booking.

Substitute Brett Emerton scored the fourth in the 74th before Carl Valeri and Robbie Kruse _ courtesy of a goalkeeper error _ wrapped up the scoring with two goals in two minutes.

While Kruse and Valeri, like Ognenovski, scored their first international goals, at the other end, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer equaled Australia's all-time caps record with his 87th appearance, matching Alex Tobin. The 38-year-old Fulham 'keeper hardly had a save to make.

"My team had a fantastic game tonight, I am overwhelmed," Australia coach Holger Osieck said. "All the things that we wanted came together, I give the boys a lot of credit for the their performance."

 

Uzbekistan's coach Vadim Abramov reacts during their 2011 Asian Cup semi-final soccer match against Australia at Khalifa stadium in Doha January 25, 2011. REUTERS

Uzbekistan coach Vadim Abramov had been bullish the day before the match, promising that his team had enough experience not to be overawed by its first Asian Cup semifinal, but his side's performance made his words sound hollow in retrospect.

"I'm sorry for the people of Uzbekistan who believed and were waiting," Abramov said. "I don't know what happened. There were too many mistakes after the first two goals, the players wanted to attack but there were too many mistakes at the back."

Abramov must now try to pick his side up for Friday's third-place playoff match against South Korea. At stake is automatic qualification for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.

Australia captain Lucas Neill admitted he "couldn't believe" how open the Uzbekistan defense was.

"They seemed to be playing one at the back, two at the back, we knew if we kept disciplined we could score goals," he said. "It could have been a lot more."

Uzbekistan began brightly enough, exchanging quick passes around the opposition penalty area, but Australia almost scored with its first attack when Brett Holman met a Cahill cross with a first-time shot that was pushed around the post by Temur Juraev.

A minute later, Australia did score, Kewell following up his extra-time winner against Iraq in the quarterfinal with his third goal of the tournament and his 17th in 52 international appearances.

Uzbekistan continued to cause Australia problems, and both Luke Wilkshire and Carl Valeri picked up bookings in the first half, but Abramov's side switched off at the back again in the 35th.

Ognenovski, the Asian player of the year playing in only his sixth international match, seemed to have all the time in the world to finish after Cahill got his head to Carney's free kick from the left.

Uzbekistan, which topped its group ahead of China, Kuwait and Qatar, fell apart in the second half.

Referee Ali Hamad Albadwawi played an advantage after Bakaev slid in very late on Cahill but had no hesitation in booking the defender once play had stopped.

McKay's pass sent Carney galloping into the area to score via a touch off the 'keeper to make it 3-0, before Bakaev's poor challenge on Wilkshire led to his dismissal.

With Uzbekistan in disarray, Australia tore apart its defense at will.

Kruse, who also missed a sitter, latched onto a long ball from defense and squared for fellow substitute Emerton to slot in the fourth goal before McKay, who was picked ahead of the experienced Emerton, provided his third assist of the evening with a cutback for Valeri to tap in in the 82nd.

The scoreboard had hardly ticked over to 5-0 when Kruse's low shot crept under Juraev's body for the sixth goal.

McKay, the 28-year-old Brisbane Roar midfielder who also provided the cross for Kewell's vital goal against Iraq, was handed the man-of-the-match award.

"What a game, I really enjoyed it," he said. "I was very surprised (to start ahead of Emerton), I only found out this morning. I was nervous but really excited to get a chance.

"It's unbelievable to be playing in the final. It's a great opportunity for us to win silverware. I'm loving every minute of it."

Lineups:

Uzbekistan: Temur Juraev, Anzur Ismailov, Sakhob Juraev, Azizbek Haydarov, Server Djeparov, Odil Akhmedov, Timur Kapadze, Jasur Khasanov (Marat Bikmaev ,54), Viktor Karpenko (Aziz Ibragimov, 71), Maksim Shatsikh (Sanjar Tursunov, 59), Ulugbek Bakaev.

Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, David Carney, Sasa Ognenovski, Luke Wilkshire, Brett Holman (Brett Emerton, 62), Harry Kewell (Robbie Kruse, 51), Matt McKay, Carl Valeri, Mile Jedinak, Tim Cahill (Neil Kilkenny, 71).