Australia forward Tim Cahill promised his team would learn from Friday's 3-1 loss to Chile in their World Cup opener and insisted the Socceroos remained full of belief for the rest of their Group B campaign.
The South Americans had threatened a rout after goals from Alexis Sanchez and Jorge Valdivia in a whirlwind opening 15 minutes at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba.
But pool outsiders Australia, who face further group matches against Holland and Spain, showed fighting spirit to reply through Cahill and went close to equalising before Jean Beausejour secured the points in stoppage time.
"It is all about defining moments," Cahill said on ITV. "This is a stage to do it. When you are called upon, you have to show up.
"At the start, we showed a bit of fear, and then when we stepped up and started getting in their faces and rolling them a little bit. When they showed a bit of aggression, we have to show it back. We did that.
"We will learn from this and we will go into the next game (against Holland on Wednesday) very positive. We believe in our football, we believe in our structure.
"Last week they were questioning whether we could create chances. Tonight we created quite a lot."
Early in the second half the former Everton player headed past Claudio Bravo for a second time, on ly to be frustrated by an offside flag.
"I don't know if it was a disallowed goal or not, but not a lot went our way tonight," he said.
Cahill, now with New York Red Bulls, added: "They got in twice and punished us, but really after that you could see their legs were going.
"We knew we could get something from this game and, when you concede like that at the end, it is disappointing. But, overall, for a team performance, we really stood up strong and it is just unfortunate."
Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli acknowledged his team had to dig in against a dogged Australia side, but felt the win was all that mattered.
"It was important to win to create some kind of aspirations," he said at his post-match press conference.
"We value the win because it was so hot. The team were worn down, so it was a valuable result.
"I saw the Australia team I imagined - hazardous on the counter and powerful in the air. They were determined to get something out of the game."
Sampaoli was particularly pleased for Barcelona forward Sanchez, who set the tone for victory with the opener.
"Alexis always gives us a lot. It was gratifyng to see him get a return," he said.
The South Americans next face world champions Spain, at the Maracana on Wednesday.
And Sampaoli will not be taking Vicente del Bosque's side lightly as they look to respond having gone down to a shock 5-1 loss against the Dutch earlier on Friday.
"Spain are the world champions," he said. "They suffered a blow, but they are one of the best teams in the world.
"The game against Spain will be very complicated. It will be a very electrifying encounter against them."
Source: PA
