Japan Squeak Through – From The Stands Asian Cup – Day 8 Review

Japan overcame some poor finishing to record a 1-0 victory over Iraq in Brisbane and booked their place in the quarter-finals.

While the pre-tournament favourites dominated possession stats and kept Iraq’s forwards at bay for the majority of the match, none of the finishing on display in their 4-0 win over Palestine was evident, despite a raft of opportunities throughout the game.

From kick-off, the Japanese looked the more likely of the two teams to open the scoring, Shinji Okazaki’s movement in particular causing Iraq’s defence all sorts of problems. Yet it was a defender who had the first big chance, when Maya Yoshida found space at the back post from a corner, only for his header to dribble miserably behind for a goal kick.

For the first 20 minutes, Iraq were barely able to move out of their own half as Japan dictated possession and tempo with ease. Bar the odd foray down the wings through the pace of Amjad Kalaf and Saad Abdul Amir, Iraq were well-contained. Japanese talisman Keisuke Honda should have punished them on 17 minutes when Yuto Nagatomo won possession on the edge of the box and found him at the back post, but he was denied by the post.

He did not have to wait long for redemption. Yasuhito Endo worked his way into the box and found Okazaki, who shot straight at Jalal Hussan in goals. The rebound fell to Honda, who was sandwiched between two defenders and went to ground. The referee awarded a penalty, and Honda duly converted. Advantage Japan.

Instead of pressing on and attempting to double their lead, Japan decided to slow the game down. Bar a free header to Okazaki which flew straight at Hussan, neither Japan or Iraq looked like scoring. It took until the second half for either team to lift from their slumber.

Japan flew out of the blocks and almost scored when Honda curled a long range effort onto the bar. Iraq responded, once again, looking to the wings in an attempt to penetrate the Japanese defence. Whilst the guile of Alaa Abdul Zahra and Younis Mahmoud caused them trouble, they failed to conjure up chances.

Whilst Iraq slowly worked their way back into the game, Japan were unable to keep possession with the same ease they had done previously. Endo was withdrawn for the more agile Yasuyuki Konno, and within minutes Honda had a gilt-edged chance to put the game beyond their opponents. Okazaki laid the ball across goal, yet his compatriot somehow managed to hit the post with an open goal gaping.

As the game drifted towards its conclusion, it seemed Japan were the only team who looked like scoring. Yet, time and time again, they failed to put the game beyond reach. Okazaki, Shinji Kagawa and substitute Hiroshi Kiyotake all had chances, yet they all unable to convert. Luckily for them, Iraq lacked a cutting edge up front to make them pay for the profligacy in front of goal, and the Blue Samurai were able to ride out the rest of the game with ease.

Final Result: Japan 1 (Honda pen 22’) defeated Iraq 0

Crowd: 22,941 at Brisbane Stadium. Despite a large number of Japanese in attendance, many felt they failed to make the noise they were expected to and will be hoping for a louder performance in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Referee: Ali Reda was spot on with the penalty decision, but was inconsistent at times with his yellow cards. Iraq felt Sakai in particular was lucky to avoid going into the book twice in the first half.

 

Team                 Played        Points      Goal Difference

Japan                 2                    6                 +5

Jordan               2                    3                 +3

Iraq                     2                    3                  0

Palestine          2                    0                 -8

 

Asian Cup 2015 Attendance Running Total: 259,070

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