March 18 – Japan swept their way in to the final of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia with an emphatic 4-1 win over South Korea at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
They now return to the stadium on Saturday to meet hosts Australia in front of what is expected to be a capacity and passionate home crowd.
Japan have been imperious in this Asian Cup, scoring a remarkable 30 goals in their five games. They have only conceded once. In the group stage they scored 19, in the quarter finals they beat Philippines 7-0 and in the semi-final added another four.
Against Nils Nielsen’s South Korean side Japan provided a masterclass, scoring twice in each half to secure their seventh final appearance and their third against Australia. Japan won both their previous final encounters in 2014 and 2018.
Going into the semi-finals South Korea, who topped their group ahead of Australia in goal difference, had also had a big quarter final win, putting six unanswered goals past Uzbekistan.
But against Japan their back five were under pressure from the start. They should have been behind in the seventh minute following a move which saw Maika Hamano backheeling Hinata Miyazawa’s pass to the surging Hana Takahashi. Kim Min-jung saved but ball fell into the path Yui Hasegawa who missed a sitter.
The wait for the first goal was short, coming in the 15th minute when Fuka Nagano stole the ball from Kim Shin-ji and squared to Ueki to sidefoot home her sixth goal in the tournament.
In the 25th minute Japan doubled their advantage when Hamano wriggled beat two markers near the corner flag and drove into the box before rifling the ball into the roof of the net.
Japan were relentless. Four minutes later a Jang Sel-gi own-goal was ruled out for a foul earlier in the attack, and in the 43rd minute Fujino’s strike was chalked off for Hikaru Kitagawa’s handball earlier in the move.
The second half continued in the same vein as the first but it took until the 75th minute before South Korean keeper Min-jung was left stranded by a Momoko Tanikawa corner, allowing Kumagai to head home unchallenged.
South Korea had their moment three minutes later when Seo-jeong found Chae-rim in the box who turned and fired the ball into the bottom corner.
For Japan it was a mere blip as they scored their fourth three minutes later from a fast break, with substitute Remina Chiba driving a low shot past Min-jung.
Japan have been in the Women’s Asian Cup final six times but have only won twice – each time against Australia. This will be the fourth final for the Aussies who beat North Korea on penalties for their first title. Their other two final appearances have been against Japan.
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