Japan wins 2014 Women's Asian Cup after defeating Australia 1-0

The reigning world champions - Japan continued their continental crown after the final match of the 2014 Asian Women's Cup at Thong Nhat Stadium last night. Thanks to their brave play, Japan forced Australia to cede the Asian Women's Football Championship to them.

Japan had a deserved victory to consolidate its dominant position.

Final ranking

Champion:Japan

Runner-up:Australia

Third place:China

Fourth:Korea

5 places to attend the 2015 World Cup:Japan, Australia, China, Korea, Thailand

Top scorer:Park Eun-sun - South Korea (6 goals)

GOAL:Iwashimizu (28')

Australia started the game confidently and had a series of scoring opportunities in the opening minutes. However, the Japanese defense remained strong and then they started to confidently hold the ball and coordinate quite well. Australia had the right to regret when the opportunities they had in the opening minutes were continuously blocked by the excellent goalkeeper Fukumoto in his effort to save Japan.

Once they had control of the ball, Japan gradually increased their attacking tempo, and the result for them was breaking the balance in the 28th minute. The scorer was center back Iwashimizu when she headed the ball into the Australian net from close range when she joined the attack during a Japanese corner kick.

With the lead to relieve the psychological pressure, the Japanese players were even more excited and continued to dominate the rest of the first half. In the second half, Australia pushed their formation very high to organize attacks in search of an equalizer, but this only helped to highlight Japan's excellent counter-attacking ability. The team from the land of the rising sun proactively divided the opponent's spearheads and was ready to organize high-speed counter-attacks when they saw the opportunity.

The drama grew more intense towards the end of the match. The game was open and even when there were only 8 minutes left, Australia managed to put the ball in the Japanese net, but they could not celebrate when referee Qin Liang disallowed the goal for offside. No more goals were scored until the end of the match. A 1-0 victory was enough for Japan to win the Asian Cup for the first time.

This is also the first time Japan has won the Asian Women's Cup and this success continues to prove their number 1 position in Asia. Meanwhile, Australia, although stripped of the Asian championship by Japan, with their performance from the beginning of the tournament, deserves to be considered a major rival to Japan on the map of power in Asian women's football.

Line-up

Japan:Fukumoto, Saori, Iwashimizu, Mizuho, ​​Aya, Nahomi, Sawa, Emi (Yura, 75'), Takase (Michi, 65'), Megumi (Chinatsu, 83), Rumi, Yuri.

Australia:William, Alleb, Clare, Knight, Emily (Laura, 60'), Lisa, Allana (Tameka, 72'), Catley, Gorry, Samantha, Heyman.

According to Bongdaplus