Doha: Substitute Takuma Asano came off the bench to score twice and earn Japan a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 win over Korea Republic in the final of the AFC U23 Championship at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday.
Kwon Chang-hoon and Jin Seong-uk gave Korea Republic a two-goal cushion by the second minute of the second half, but Asano’s introduction in the 60th minute turned the game in Japan’s favour with the Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker scoring either side of a goal by Shinya Yajima to seal the Japanese fight back.
The Koreans took the lead when Sim Sang-min’s cross from the Korean left was headed back across goal by Jin Seong-uk and Kwon Chang-hoon’s weak volley was deflected past Kushibiki via Takuya Iwanami’s left knee.
The Koreans double their lead when Jin beat Kushibiki with a low effort to his left.
The Koreans were cruising until the introduction of striker Asano with 30 minutes to go turned the game in Japan’s favour.
Within seven minutes of coming on for Ryota Oshima, Asano had halved the deficit, clipping home a fine first-time effort as he latched on to Yajima’s perfectly weighted ball from midfield. Seconds later, the Japanese were level and this time it was Yajima who was celebrating as his bullet header following Naomichi Ueda’s cross flew into the top corner, leaving Korean goalkeeper Kim Dong-jun rooted to the spot.
And with nine minutes remaining, Asano completed an unlikely comeback when the Korean defence dithered to allow Asano to spin past the last defender and meet Shoya Nakajima’s through ball before slotting beyond Kim Dong-jun.
The Peninsula
