The Socceroos have claimed the 2015 Asian Cup in a tight, closely contested final against South Korea on 31 January. A goal in extra time gave the home side a 2-1 victory in Sydney.

This Melbourne based Global Voices blogger followed the live TV broadcast and the twitter hashtag #ACfinal, concentrating on the Oz twitterverse.

Stadium Australia was sold out as this photo clearly shows:

How good is this! #AC2015 #AsianCup #ACFinal #Socceroos pic.twitter.com/vtbaKgGY9a

— Adam Santarossa (@adamsantarossa) January 31, 2015

Many Aussie fans felt that their hopes were in the hands of veteran star Tim Cahill:

Tim Cahill was born for these moments. He will deliver #ACFinal

— Troy Riordan (@reardo34) January 31, 2015

The standard of the refereeing was a consistent meme for the night. One-eyed supporters saw what they believed:

There's been more dives in the first 10 minutes of the Asian Cup Final than the 2014 Olympics #AC2015 #ACFinal

— Fergus White (@fergus_white) January 31, 2015

The ref needs a holiday, maybe 4th division in the Siberian league for a month or 2. #ACFinal #AUSvKOR #Socceroos #AsianCup2015 #ACFinal

— Paul Fisher (@fishstar76) January 31, 2015

However, the Socceroos captain and his team also received some criticism early on:

Jedinak needs to get his temper under control! #AUSvKOR #ACFinal #GoSocceroos

— Donna (@DSpiceW) January 31, 2015

Lots of stray passes from @Socceroos. Need to calm their nerves. #AsianCup! #AC2015 #ACFinal

— Alvin Ng (@AlvinNg) January 31, 2015

Their nerves were calmed after the stands erupted for Massimo Luongo’s 44 minute goal:

MASSIMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LUONGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!! #ACFinal

— Blake (@AussiePhinatic) January 31, 2015

At the break, some fans were switching to the other big events of the night namely the Queensland State election and the Australian Open Tennis Women’s final:

What a night for #live #tv Glad I'm in charge of the remote tonight. #ACFinal #qldvotes #AusOpen

— Bernadette McSherry (@bmcsherr) January 31, 2015

[Your author joined them briefly switching to Poll Bludger‘s live blog]

Meanwhile, some South Koreans were tweeting their frustrations in English:

MT @binnyhendrix Aus, why play so dirty? It's so shameful. This #acfinal would be so much more enjoyable if Aus played w good sportsmanship.

— stella lee née lee (@treeliruli) January 31, 2015

Another meme was this photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un:

Kim Jong Un declares this a victory for communism #AUSvKOR #GoSocceroos #AC2015 #ACFinal pic.twitter.com/8oo9aVSVIc

— Ares Mars (@AresMarsFlack) January 31, 2015

When coach Ange Postecoglou subbed injured Tim Cahill, supporters took a deep breath:

Cahill off, wow. Okay… you're the boss, Ange. #ACFinal

— Hendo (@HendoHoops) January 31, 2015

Not everyone was so calm:

My dads losing it at the tv.. #ACFinal #AUSvKOR

— Amanda ن (@AmandaHektic) January 31, 2015

These fears were born out as the end of regular time approached:

Unbelievable! Son Heung-Min with an equaliser in the 91st minute! #ACFinal.

— Tom Webber (@thwebber) January 31, 2015

So many controls were just thrown at the screen #ACFinal

— Marc Pittonet (@MPittonet) January 31, 2015

James Troisi’s goal in the 105th minute proved to be the decider:

So @afcasiancup champions ✔️ @TheAFCCL champions ✔️ Well done @socceroos! Did our nation proud tonight! Proud of all of you #ACFinal

— Sports Banter (@sports_banter) January 31, 2015

Massimo Luongo received the honour of Most Valuable Player for the tournament:

.@MassLuongo gets a #AC2015 Champions selfie!! #ACFinal pic.twitter.com/PF3s6HRIrk

— AFC Asian Cup (@afcasiancup) January 31, 2015

It would not have been football without some controversy. Two days before the final Asian Footaball Confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa raised moves to “evict” the Socceroos from Asia. Sportsfan quoted him as saying that “the Arabs are not the only ones who are not convinced that Australia's membership in Asia's football is feasible.” The Socceroos success in the World Cup qualifiers is the major reason apparently.

The Aussie response on twitter was predictable. Before the game Ian Watts captured the local feeling:

West Asia wants Australia out of the Asian football competitions. Sounds like sour grapes to me. #bunchofsorelosers http://t.co/r4VMrn2qXX

— Ian Watts (@ianwattsdesign) January 29, 2015

After Australia became champions, Stephen Fenech underline the importance of the victory:

Australia is definitely a part of Asia now!! Asian Cup champions!!!! #ACFinal pic.twitter.com/oWaI5rgSPK

— Stephen Fenech (@StephenFenech) January 31, 2015

Australia's success may well increase rather than dampen calls for its removal from the Asian Confederation.

[The featured and thumbnail images were taken as screenshots from ABC TV live coverage of the cup.]