Through to the Asian Games Final, as the Women also strike Gold

November 23rd, 2010 | by: Aidan | Comments Off

Japan’s U-21s reached the Men’s Final in Guangzhou by coming from behind to beat Iran 2-1 in the semi-final of the Asian Games.

Having gone behind very early they had to show good character to come back and take the place in the Final thanks to goals from Kota Mizunuma and Kensuke Nagai – the winner being described in one report I read as being “one that Wayne Rooney would have been proud of“.

They will face either South Korea or United Arab Emirates in the Final.

Meanwhile the women’s team have taken the gold medal thanks to a 1-0 win over defending champions North Korea. The winner came courtesy of a header from Azusa Iwashimizu 15 minutes from time, and Japan held on through a frantic late onslaught to win the gold.

Coah Norio Sasaki said…

“We’ve never been Asian champions before and that was our goal when we came here. The victory was down to the players’ will to win, and although we still have some shortcomings and room to improve, we will work hard and we want to be world champions. But this was a very good tournament for us.”