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Asian Cup soccer:
Japan, Australia set up final showdown
Tom Williams
Japan and Australia, Asia’s two top-ranked sides, set up a
mouth-watering Asian Cup final showdown after coming through their
semi-final matches in starkly contrasting fashion on Tuesday. Three-time
champions Japan beat East Asian rivals South Korea 3-0 on penalties
after a tense, even contest that saw the Koreans force a penalty
shoot-out by equalising in the last minute of extra-time.
Australia’s evening could barely have been more different, as they
romped to an embarrassingly one-sided 6-0 demolition of hapless 10-man
Uzbekistan to reach their first final in the continental showpiece.
Brilliant
“We had a brilliant game, the players put on a great show and I’m
full of praise for them. It was fantastic,” said Australia’s German
coach Holger Osieck.
“The secret for victory was the way we set ourselves up on the pitch.
We were very attack-oriented.” Japan’s game at Doha’s Al Gharafa Stadium
was an electrifying affair in which the momentum swung both ways on
numerous occasions before the South Korean youngsters’ nerve finally
deserted them in the shoot-out.
Centre-back
Centre-back Yasuyuki Konno netted the decisive penalty after Koo
Ja-Cheol, Lee Yong-Rae and Hong Jeong-Ho had all failed from 12 yards
for South Korea.
Japan led going into the final minute of extra-time but defender
Hwang Jae-Won slammed in a sensational equaliser following a scramble
inside the Japanese box to make it 2-2 and send the game to penalties.
Hwang had earlier conceded a penalty from which Japan had taken the
lead early in extra-time, with substitute Hajime Hosogai converting a
rebound after Keisuke Honda’s spot-kick was saved by Jung Sung-Ryong. Ki
Sung-Yueng had put South Korea in front via another penalty mid-way
through the first half, with Ryoichi Maeda drawing Japan level nine
minutes before half-time.
“It was a hard game, a very hard game,” said Japan’s Italian coach
Alberto Zaccheroni.
“Credit to the Korea team. They are a fantastic, well-organised team.
Winning against such a fantastic team makes me even more happy.” South
Korea coach Cho Kwang-Rae praised his side for refusing to accept
defeat.
Opponents
“They never gave up, they pressured their opponents and controlled
the game until the very end, which is how they managed to equalise,” he
said.
“We showed how strong we are in terms of fighting spirit and our
desire to play football.”
Australia’s game at the Al Khalifa Stadium was all but over by
half-time, as Osieck’s experienced side dealt a harsh lesson to a Uzbek
team that was also appearing at in first ever Asian Cup semi-final.
Galatasary forward Harry Kewell claimed the opener on five minutes
when he rifled into the bottom-right corner and Asian player of the year
Sasa Ognenovski doubled their lead 11 minutes before half-time.
Blackpool’s David Carney finished a counter-attack to put the game
beyond doubt on 65 minutes and when Uzbek striker Ulugbek Bakaev was
sent off after picking up a second caution, the match was effectively
over.
DOHA, Wednesday AFP
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