April 21 – Japan held on to their Asian champions title beating Australia 1-0 in the final of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2018 final in Amman, Jordan, last Friday.
The final marked the closure of an outstandingly successful tournament for the AFC and the Women’s game, the first time the Women’s Asian Cup has been held in West Asia.
Doubling up as a qualifier for the Women’s World Cup in France 2019, the final was all about winning bragging rights in the AFC region – Australia, China, Japan and Thailand had already qualified for France 2019, as had the Korean Republic via a fifth place play-off.
The final itself was a hard fought and tense affair. Australia, who had twice scored in the closing minutes of the knock-out rounds to stay in the competition, and had made it through to the final via a penalty shoot-out, started at speed peppering the Japanese goal with shots.
The two teams had previously met in the in the last group game in a 1-1 draw that had qualified them for the semi-finals over the Korean Republic who were the only team to go through the tournament without conceding a goal.
Japan were kept on level terms in the final by goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita’s 13th minute double save, which denied both Sam Kerr’s spinning volley and Lisa De Vanna’s follow-up. Just two minutes later she was called into action again, saving a penalty from Elise Kellond-Knight.
This became the story of the game as the Australians were continually denied by Yamashita, with the Japanese working themselves into the game based on their defensive shutout.
With the score 0-0 at half time, the second half saw more unsuccessful Australian pressure. It was against the run of play that Japan who took the lead with a brilliant goal from 24-year-old substitute Yokoyama in the 84th minute.
Twelve minutes after being introduced, the forward received the ball from Hasegawa, took a touch around Kennedy and drilled the ball into the top corner of the net from 18 yards to notch her fourth goal of the tournament in less than 100 minutes of playing time.
Japan held on to make Japan the first team to win back-to-back Asian titles since DPR Korea in 2003.
AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, congratulating the teams and local organisers, said: “Jordan has been an excellent host to Asia’s flagship women’s football competition and the home team is an inspiration for all. They are football role models for girls and women not only at home but also in the West Asian region and beyond.
“I would like to thank the Local Organising Committee for its dedication and hard work which has enabled us to make history by bringing Asia’s flagship women’s national team competition to the West zone. We look forward to seeing the legacy of the tournament in growing numbers of girls and women taking up football.”
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