Japan finally found their right track in Asian Cup 2007. After a draw against Qatar in the opening match, Japan has won their second match over UAE by 3-1. UAE has been out of the tournament with this lost as they also lost their first match against Vietnam. The match was held in Vietnam in a hot temperature. Japan is the defending champion of the last two Asian Cup tournament and they came to play in Asian Cup 2007 with the hope of winning the cup for the third consecutive times. Naohiro Takahara, the star Japanese striker who currently plays for Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany, scored two goals and Japan’s another star footballer Shunsuke Nakamura scored another goal to ensure Japan’s much awaited victory.
Reuters reported:
Striker Naohiro Takahara scored twice as Japan rebounded from a disappointing 1-1 draw with Qatar in their opener to go top of Group B on goal difference above co-hosts Vietnam.
"It was so hot that it was hard to play... 45 minutes was difficult enough," Japan's enigmatic Bosnian coach Ivica Osim told reporters.
"But obviously the ball never gets tired. It was important that we had about 95 percent of the possession and just wore UAE down by controlling the tempo."
With this win, Japan now leads in the Group B and Vietnam stands second in the group. Though Japan got an important victory against UAE, they can not relax as they have to face host Vietnam in their last group match. In the last match Qatar will play against UAE. If Qatar wins the match then their points will be 5. Now, both Japan and Vietnam has 4 points each. So, a calculation might be needed in order to decide the top two teams from Group B to progress in the next round.
No comments:
Post a Comment