AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia    Knockout Stage Quarter-Final
23 January 2015　   Kickoff 20:30   Playing Time 90minutes
Stadium Australia(Sydney/Australia)

SAMURAI BLUE（Japan National Team）1-1(1st 0-1, 2nd 1-0, Ext 1st0-0, Ext 2nd0-0, PSO 4-5) UAE National Team 

Scores
7min   Ali MABKHOUT(UAE)
81min   SHIBASAKI Gaku(SAMURAI BLUE)

Starters
GK: KAWASHIMA Eiji
DF: NAGATOMO Yuto, MORISHIGE Masato, SAKAI Gotoku, YOSHIDA Maya
MF: ENDO Yasuhito, KAGAWA Shinji, HASEBE Makoto
FW: HONDA Keisuke, OKAZAKI Shinji, INUI Takashi

Substitutes
GK：NISHIKAWA Shusaku, HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki
DF：UEDA Naomichi, OTA Kosuke, SHIOTANI Tsukasa, SHOJI Gen
MF：KIYOTAKE Hiroshi, KONNO Yasuyuki, SHIBASAKI Gaku
FW：TOYODA Yohei, MUTO Yoshinori、KOBAYASHI Yu

HT　 INUI Takashi→MUTO Yoshinori
54min　 ENDO Yasuhito→SHIBASAKI Gaku
65min　 OKAZAKI Shinji→TOYODA Yohei

SAMURAI BLUE (Japan men's national team) lost to the United Arab Emirates 5-4 in a penalty shootout after the sides ended extra minutes 1-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup on 23 January in Sydney. Japan's chance to repeat the title and win it for the fifth time was eliminated.

Japan allowed a goal to the UAE on 7th minute, and tied it with a goal on 81st from midfielder SHIBASAKI Gaku, who came in the game as a substitute. But the reigning champions weren't able to add another in the reminder of the regulation and 30 minutes of extra minutes. In the penalty shootout, two Japanese kickers missed, while the UAE made five but one. It was the first time in 19 years that Japan missed the final four in the Asian Cup since 1996.

Japan, who had qualified through the group stage with three straight wins, came in the UAE match with the same members, but perhaps they hadn't recovered from their fatigues as they had to play the game with two day's rest, they seemed a little heavy from early and didn't have the sharpness, speed and strength they usually show.

The UAE, meanwhile, entered with three day's rest and looked smooth as they had established the team since they were in the youth generation. Japan struggled with forward Ahmed Mabkhout's speedy dribbles.

The UAE got on the scoreboard with Mabkhout's goal. Midfielder Amer Abdulrahman, who received a pass from midfielder Abdulaziz Haikal with no pressure from Japanese players, kicked a long pass into behind the Japanese defensive line. Mabkhout quickly ran into it and kicked it with his right foot into the Japan goal.

Now trailing by one, forward HONDA Keisuke had a shot from a cross of defender NAGATOMO Yuto right after the UAE goal and forward INUI Takashi fired a shot with a cross from defender SAKAI Gotoku on 18th minute for Japan. But either shot didn't net. Japan had a few more shots from midfielder ENDO Yasuhito and Honda, but they went outside of the goalmouth.

Japan coach Javier Aguirre substituted Inui with forward MUTO Yoshinori from the beginning of the second half, attempting to create some chances with the move. Muto tried to take shots on 52nd and 53rd minutes. And on 54th, now midfielder SHIBASAKI Gaku came in the pitch substituting Endo and the team had more scoring opportunities.

For the UAE, Mabkhout, who got a pass from midfielder Omar Abdulrahman, penetrated and fired a shot, but it was saved by Japan goalkeeper KAWASHIMA Eiji. Yet the UAE played defensively other than that, staying in their own territory.

On 60th, following an attack by Muto in a side, Kagawa fired a shot. Six minutes later, midfielder HASEBE Makoto made a shot from outside the box. On 75th, another substitute forward TOYODA Yohei kicked a cross of Shibasaki, and then on 79th Honda aimed to score from the right side.

On 81st minute, Japan patiently connected passes and Shibasaki received the ball from Honda on a one-two play. Shibasaki netted with his right foot.

Japan launched an offensive on the 86th minute, shot by Kagawa, Hasebe and Shibasaki one after another and Honda for taking free-kick directly targeting for goal but it was saved by the other side’s goalkeeper. Just before the end of the second half, Japan zero in the other side’s goal with consecutive efforts by Shibaski and Muto but not fierce enough to find the net.

Just before going onto extra time, Japan’s players and staffer formed a big circle for motivating themselves. In the extra second half, Sakai moved to left side back, Shibasaki on right side back after placing Nagatomo who injured his foot in midfield, Toyoda and defender Morishige narrowly missed the goal soon after the extra time restart. Just before the time, Shibaski’s free-kick gave threat to the other side but no goal was scored.

Every Japan players and staff formed circle again before penalty shoot-out started. The first kicker Honda’s shot went above the bar but following Hasebe, Shibasaki, Toyoda, Morishige successfully converted. The other side’s third kicker failed to convert with score 5-5 and Kagawa’s shot hit left post and that was it. The other side’s sixth kicker converted ending the fierce battle.

The rest of quarter-finals, Iraq beat Iran in penalty shoot-out following 3-3 at the extra time end and Australia won 2-0 over China, Korea Republic advanced to semi-final for 2-1 victory against Uzbekistan. Semi-final matchups are set for Korea Republic vs Iraq on 26 January, Australia vs UAE on 27 January. The final will be held on 31 January.

Head Coach and Players Comments

Javier AGUIRRE, Head Coach
I'm proud of this team. They put out everything they had for the entire 120 minutes, and outplayed our opponents in any phases. You need luck in penalty shootouts, so the odds for you to win are reduced by 50 percent. We gave up a goal from a careless mistake early on and had to catch up with them, but our players performed until the end. They showed a better football and tried to create a lot of better opportunities to score. Their goalkeeper made some good saves but we had a lot of crosses and middle shots. We ended up losing in a penalty shootout, but we have to continue what we did today. We had the better ball possession, but our opponents were showing battles as if it was a game that could change their life. I think that their strategy to bring the game into the penalty shootout. Anyone could misfire in a penalty shootout. Honda is a great player. He's scored three goals and was involved in a lot of occasions in this game. We don't have to lose our confidence. We showed plays that deserved a win, so we should just keep our heads up.

DF  NAGATOMO Yuto(FC Internazionale/Italy)
I hurt my leg, and we had no spot for a substitution, so it troubled our team and I feel sorry and regretting. We lost in the FIFA World Cup and now we came up short in this AFC Asian Cup as well. We have to acknowledge this is where we are. The UAE had a lot of players who had techniques and speed. We made so many chances and ended up scoring just one and it was our problem. We will have to raise our individual quality and level.

MF  ENDO Yasuhito(Gamba Osaka)
It was only two things we lacked of, unable to score a goal in chances and the other side’s number 7 outperformed us even though we knew he is really fast in counter attack. Of course, we have to blame ourselves for the other side took advantage of us making a mistake and failing to switch marking for target man in the beginning of 10 to 15 minutes. The fact is we dominated the game for the rest. But thing is no matter how much control we have and how many chances created, sometimes we could end up losing. I guess our mistake led to conceding goal and beside that probably the team had been functioning.

GK  KAWASHIMA Eiji (Standard Liege/Belgium)
Field players did as much as they could. It was my turn to play my role but I really regret I couldn’t do my part. I was going to play one by one in penalty shoot-out, I don’t think I was outplayed by the other side’s first kicker, chip-kick. The team developed ourselves for playing four games in this cup and had been dominating the game both offence and defence but I was really embarrassed not everything led to a positive result.

MF  SHIBASAKI Gaku(Kashima Antlers)
I am really disappointed for not producing a good result even though actually we were making quite a few chances. I must admit we have to raise quality and accuracy when playing in vital area. Personally, I was able to make a lot of actions and a good rhythm for the team. About the scoring goal, all I have to do was just shoot it as Honda sent me back ball in excellent location. I kicked the free kick watching the position of defence wall and I was disappointed for not scoring go-ahead goal for a big chance.

MF  HASEBE Makoto (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany)
I don’t think we had a problem in switching our feeling for going on to the knockout stage, win-or-die games. Recapping about the scene of conceding goal, it was bad way to be taken up the ball, no concentration at all in defenders and no pressures at all on the other side’s players who sent a final ball. It was not just a single mistake but I have an impression of making triple mistakes, one after another. Unlike the previous three games in the group stage, the quality of other side’s offensive was totally high and I fully understand we lacked concentration for the occasion of conceding goal.　The fact of losing the game after making so many chances during 120 minutes, I must admit we lacked decider and not strong enough.

MF  KAGAWA Shinji(Borussia Dortmund/Germany)
I wasn't able to score and we wound up losing, so I feel responsible. And I feel sorry for missing my kick in the PK. When I think what if I made a goal, it makes me feel frustrated so much. Everybody was playing with composure and we had so many chances, so we had the confidence to rally past them once we started rolling, but one goal wasn't enough after all. We missed so many scoring opportunities. We certainly didn't intend to be done here, so right now I just have nothing but frustration. We had a good mood as our younger guys scored, but it's pretty regretting that I missed my PK in the end, and I feel sorry for the team. Time won't return, so we are going to have to reset our mentality. I want to believe things happen for a meaning. I will have to reflect the reasons why I missed shots and lost the game. I think I still have things I need to learn, and I want to know whether it's something about my mentality or something else.

FW  HONDA Keisuke(AC Milan/Italy)
The PK is a battle with yourself, and we were taught about how tough football is, how tough a win-or-go-home game is, and how tough a penalty shootout is. On the PK, I was thinking to kick it a little harder looking at the reaction of the goalkeeper, but as a result I wasn't able to hit it at the right spot of my foot, and it ended up as it was. Whatever I say here, that fact that we are the losers will not change, and it's also a fact that we played a better football despite of the fact that we had to play it with two day's rest, and we had some occasion that we could have finished the game. But we couldn't do so, and the game entered the penalty shootout and lost. And I think that we have to accept that it was all on us. The whole team was responsible on the goal allowed, too. It was most regrettable that we gave up the goal that early and could not score a go-ahead goal to finish the game before the penalty shootout. We came in this tournament with higher expectations than in the previous tournament. But we weren't able to overcome the pressure, and that was only because we were immature and we weren't able to live up to those expectations because that.

Mahdi ALI, Head Coach(UAE National Team)
I would like to say congratulations to our players and our team. We lost in our Iraqi game despite playing a great performance, so I told our players today, “You guys don't have to win with great performance all the time. Sometimes you've got to battle with tough mentality.'' But they did play very hard in this game. We got tired and gave up a goal in the second half, but fought through the 120 minutes. I would like to thank god on this victory. It's a great thing that we defeated the defending Asian Cup Japan, and this will give us further confidence and motivation for our next game.

Click here for Photo Gallery

International Friendly Match
U-22 Japan National Team vs U-22 Myanmar National Team
Wed. 11 March 2015    Kickoff 19:10(plan)  Fukuda Denshi Arena/Chiba 
More Information

KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2015
SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) vs Tunisia National Team
Fri. 27 March 2015   Kickoff 19:30(plan)   Oita Sports Park/Oita 
More Information

JAL CHALLENGE CUP 2015
SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) vs Uzbekistan National Team
Tue. 31 March 2015   Kickoff 19:25(plan) Tokyo Stadium/Tokyo
More Information