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AFC, SINGAPORE
Japan edged Iran 9-8 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out to qualify for semifinals of the AFC U-17 Championship here at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday.

The win on penalties, coming after 120 minutes of football produced a 1-1 draw, also booked Japan’s spot in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Korea Republic next year.

Japan goalkeeper Ryotaro Hironaga, who plays for FC Tokyo, was the hero for Japan after saving Ehsan Hajysafi’s final spot kick of the night.

The teams battled out a one-goal deadlock in regulation time and there was no end to the stalemate even after extra-time, forcing the tiebreaker from the spot in which Hironaga showed why he is one of the best in the business with his intuitive shot-stopping skills which reserved Japan’s place in the last four against Syria, who defeated Saudi Arabia 2-1 at the Bishan Stadium.

Japan opened the scoring early in the first half with a goal from Yoichiro Kakitani. Iran leveled the score eight minutes before time through Jalaladin Almohammadi. For the record, the two teams met at the Tehran Invitational in May last year, with Iran winning 4-3 and it was Japan who gained sweet revenge this time.

The opening minutes were all but exciting with Japan dominating strongly. Both teams were error prone and there were wasteful passes all over the pitch. With the battle concentrated in midfield, there were not many real chances created by both sides.

Japan drew first blood in the 14th minute with a flash of brilliance from their influential playmaker Yoichiro Kakitani.

Receiving a long pass from the defence, the Cerezo Osaka youngster accelerated his run with perfection and ran for 40 yards beating the entire Iranian backline, before finishing past the on-rushing goalkeeper Davoud Noushi Sofiani.

Iran were made to wait till the 21st minute for their first shot on goal but Hamidreza Ali Asgari Dehaghi’s lob went well wide.

Hiroshi Jofuku’s lads muffed up two golden chances to improve the scoreline when, in the 39th minute, Sofiani came off his line to pouch a long cross by Japan but fumbled, but before Kakitani could steal in, the Iranian custodian pounced on the ball, and two minutes before half time, Jin Hanato had a near post shot off a corner, blocked on the goal line by the alert Abolhassan Jafari.

Japan continued their domination in the second half but the Iranians slowly picked up the tempo with inspirational captain Hadi Azizi Kalehsar and his midfield partner Dehaghi started to stamp their authority.

Japan suffered a scare in the 47th minute when Bakhtiar Rahmani burst through the Japanese defence but with the goal mouth at his mercy, he contrived to shoot into the stands.

Japan continues to create- and waste chances - with Kakitani and Shohei Otsuka being the main culprits.

With 20 minutes to go, Jofuku opted for a conservative policy by substituting Otsuka with midfielder Hiroto Tanaka, and pushed Kakitani up-front alone. Another first choice striker Hanato, was replaced by Manabu Saito earlier at half time.

Jofuku’s tactic backfired spectacularly with the desperate Iranians equalising eight minutes before the end to force the game into extra-time after the Japanese defence failed to clear a flowing attack on the wing and Almohammadi blasted the ball into the net to level the score.

Captain Kota Mizunuma wasted a golden opportunity to put Japan, who were now without a recognized striker, back in the driving seat in the 105th minute by shoot inches wide after being put through by Naoki Yamada.

Iran played with 10 men from the 112th minute onwards with defender Reza Rishi Esfahani getting his marching orders from UAE referee Mohamed Fareed Ali Al Marzouqi for his second yellow card of the match.

The scoreline remained unchanged after 120 minutes of play and both sets of players were only to glad to settle it out from the spot where Japan proved to be the superior team.

Japan coach Hiroshi Jofuku was a relieved man after the match. “The penalty shootout is a lottery, and I am happy to take the team through and qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007.”

Jofuku explained that it was his desire to shut out Iranian midfielder Hamidreza Ali Asghari Dehagi which prompted his decision to substitute Otsuka. “I changed the team formation and tactics in the second half to contain the threat of Iran no.10 (Dehaghi), who was influential. I needed to tighten up the team defence in order to nip Iranian attacks in the bud.”

“I was definitely not going for negative tactics as I am not a defensive minded person.”

« Japan, Iran in clash of the titans | Karimi comes on in Bayern’s Champions League win »

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