2011 Asian Cup Quarterfinal: Japan 3-2 vs. Qatar; 10-man Japan edge past Qatar in thriller
Japan took on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Qatar-c2986 in the first quarterfinal match of the Asian Cup at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Doha on Friday. Expected to be one of the most hyped matches in the tournament, the jam-packed stadium just aided that cause.
The line-ups on the night were as follows:
Japan: http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ryoichi-Maeda-c32012
Qatar: http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sebastian-Soria-c32777
The match kicked off in dramatic fashion, as in the 11th minute, Majid seemed to pick up a knock and was down in pain. The player was taken off the pitch and just when it looked like Qatar would be playing with the disadvantage
of having one man short on the pitch, they took the surprise lead in the 13th
minute.
Sebastian Soria managed to receive the ball in an offside position, though the player went unnoticed, and drilled a shot into the back of the net, giving Qatar the early lead.
Soon after the goal, Majid was replaced and Khaled Muftah was brought on for the injured player.
However, the early goal from Qatar seemed to spur the Japanese on, as they found the equalizer on the 27th minute mark.
Honda slipped in a brilliant through ball for Okazaki, who went on to chip the ball over the on rushing keeper and Kagawa was present to fly in and meet the chipped ball with his head to get Japan back in the game.
The first half eventually ended with both sides level at one goal apiece, but someone was bound to find the winner in order to progress to the next round.
In the 61st minute, Japan's task of progressing took a giant blow as Yoshida was given his marching orders after being shown a second yellow card.
Qatar capitalized on this one-man advantage as they took the lead once again in the 62nd minute. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabio-c13152 Cesar struck a low free kick towards the goal and despite the effort looking to be a tame one, it somehow managed
to roll past everyone and find the back of the net.
Eight minutes later, the 10-man Japan were back in the match. In the 70th minute, Kagawa received the ball in the Qatar area and he went on to clip the ball with his left foot, past the keeper to give Japan their second
equalizer in the game.
There was yet more drama in the game, as in the 90th minute, just when it looked like the game would be heading into extra time http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Japan-c2928 pushed everyone forward. Kagawa was once again amidst everything as he squirmed into
the Qatar area once again and managed to round the keeper. However, he was then taken out and just when it looked like a penalty would be awarded, Inoha charged forward from his defensive position to slide in the ball from close range.
As a result, the game ended with Japan winning by three goals to two.
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