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'Good winner, good loser' Japan moves past China 2-1, into Asian Cup final
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Japan defeated China 3-2 in a hard-fought semifinal Thursday in the Asian Cup to set up a clash with defending champion Saudi Arabia in Sunday's final. The Japanese, who began their campaign with an emphatic 4-1 win over Saudi Arabia, will now look to emulate their 1992 feat when they won the Asian Cup at home over the Saudis. No other team apart from Saudi Arabia and Japan have won the Asian Cup since 1984 when the Saudis won the first of their three titles. The match against China, however, fully tested the metal of a Japanese side that has so far in this tournament scored 20 goals and conceded only six. "Tonight, we had a good winner and a good loser," said Japan's French coach Philippe Troussier. "It was very important for us to reach the final and now we just have prepare for the Saudis. "It was a tense game and remained dangerous for us until the last moment and that's why my satisfaction is greater," Troussier said. The Saudis will now look to avenge their 4-1 loss against Japan in their group match. China began in better form than the Japanese and created several chances, including a shot by Yang Chen in the 15th minute from outside the box that was tipped over by Japanese goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi to a corner, from which China almost scored after Kawaguchi fumbled the ball but Li Tie could not get his shot in from close range. It was Japan, however, that opened the scoring against the run of play after Naohiro Takahara crossed a ball into the penalty box and Chinese defender Fan Zhiyi sent it to the roof of the net as he attempted to clear in the 21st minute. It took China just 10 minutes to score a well-deserved equalizer after Wu Chengying crossed a ball to Su Maozhen and he headed it down to Qi Hong who drove it home. In the 36th, China could have went one up but Yang's header from Su Maozhen's cross hit the bar. In the 49th minute, Yang intercepted a Japanese pass in midfield, charged toward the goal and his shot took a slight deflection off Naoki Matsuda to leave Kawaguchi no chance for Chin's second. Three minutes later, a brilliantly executed free kick by Japan's Shunsuke Nakamura hit the bar and Akinori Nishizawa's diving header sent the ball into an empty net for Japan's equalizer. Japan went ahead for good in the 61st minute when Takahara, after a quick run on the right, fed Tomokazu Myojin a swift pass inside the penalty box and he shot beyond the outstretched Chinese goalkeeper. "Obviously I am not happy with the result but tonight football won and the public had the best match of this tournament," said China's Yugoslav-born coach Bora Milutinovic. Lineups: Japan: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Naoki Matsuda, Ryuzo Morioka, Toshihiro Hattori, Hiroshi Nanami, Hiroaki Morishima (Daisuke Oku, 90), Shunsuke Nakamura, Junichi Inamoto, Tomokazu Myojin, Naohiro Takahara, Akinori Nishizawa (Atsushi Yamagisawa, 88). China: Jiang Jin, Wu Chengying, Fan Zhyi, Chen Gang, Li Weifeng, Li Ming (Qu Shengqing 76), Li Tie, Qi Hong, Shen Si (Ma Mingyu, 63), Su Maozhen (Xie Hui 84), Yang Chen.
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