Australia head coach Ange Postecoglou believes his decision to rest several key players against South Korea was vindicated by the Socceroos' Asian Cup quarter-final win over China.
After Australia's 1-0 loss to South Korea in their final Asian Cup Group A game, questions were raised as to whether Postecoglou was right to rotate his attacking options, including Tim Cahill whose double was the difference in the 2-0 win over China in Brisbane.
A win or draw against South Korea would have seen the Socceroos finish top of the group and avoid a potential encounter with Japan in Newcastle for a place in the final.
The 49-year-old hit back at his critics and says his man-management of players - including Cahill - was the reason Australia made the semi-finals.
"I still shake my head sometimes with some of the things I hear or read," Postecoglou said.
"The reason Timmy does so fantastically well for us is because we manage him really well.
"We rested him against Korea because we knew that this game was going to be important and we saw tonight that in the penalty box he is still world class.
"And same with Bresh [Mark Bresciano], he was unlucky not to get the goal, but we needed experience tonight, and those two and Mile [Jedinak], he worked his way into the game, I thought those three were really good.
"I'm continually having to say the same story and it's frustrating the hell out of me because people can't see what I see in this team.
"Well, I think the supporters do, the fans understand that this is an exciting team.
"For people to be talking about what happens if we get eliminated tonight, seriously.
"We started something 14 months ago and I reckon we've stuck to that plan.
"I'll be held accountable if we ever move away from that plan, but we've stuck to that plan and we're delivering."