Doha: Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima was the hero as Japan gained sweet revenge over their traditional rivals South Korea with a 5-2 tie-breaker win to enter the final of the Asian Cup football championship.

The teams were level 1-1 after full time, level 2-2 after extra time and Japan converted the first three of their penalties while South Korea flopped miserably.
Kesiuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki and Yasuyuki Konno, who conceded a penalty in the first half to Korea made no mistake with their kicks and Japan, were through to bid for their fourth Asian Cup triumph.

“It is a great win for us,” said Kawashima after the game. “It was a pity we conceded that late second goal but now we managed to win and I am happy I had a role in it.”
“Our goal is to win the Asian Cup so we will see how the final goes. We still have maybe 90 or 120 minutes and hopefully we can lift the Cup on January 29,” the Japanese goalkeeper said.

Japan, who had lost via the shootout four years ago to South Korea in their third-place play-off, thus gained some revenge and in the bargain soured rival skipper and Manchester United star Park Ji-sung’s 100 international appearance for his country.

Earlier a controversial penalty in the first half of extra-time put Japan 2-1 ahead but that last-gasp goal by Hwang Jae-won in the 119th minute took the game to the shoot out.

Japan’s second goal came following the penalty awarded by Saudi Arabia referee Khalil Al Ghamdi. Japanese defender Daiki Iwamasa baulked Shinji Okazaki just outside the box and even as Al Ghamdi blew for a free-kick the linesman indicated it was inside the box and the spot kick was awarded despite protests by the Koreans.

Keisuke Honda’s penalty was saved by Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong but Hosogai darted in to slam the rebound into the roof and Japan led 2-1.

Earlier Al Ghamdi had given the Koreans a penalty in the 23rd minute after a rough push by Japanese defender Yasuyuki Konno on Park Ji-Sung. The penalty was converted by Ki Sung Yuen.’

But Japan equalized after Honda initiated a brilliant move and sent Yuto Nagatomo on the left. The defender then found Ryoichi Maeda who scored his third goal of the championship.

Both sides missed a lot of chances though Japan looked sharper in attack. For Japan, Honda was at the heart of almost every move and the tall midfielder had a hand in both his team’s goals and was later declared MVP of the match.

北京時(shí)間1月25日21時(shí)25分，2011年卡塔爾亞洲杯迎來(lái)首場(chǎng)半決賽較量，日本隊(duì)對(duì)陣韓國(guó)隊(duì)。雙方經(jīng)過(guò)點(diǎn)球大戰(zhàn)，日本隊(duì)點(diǎn)球大戰(zhàn)以5-2勝出，韓國(guó)隊(duì)在點(diǎn)球大戰(zhàn)中居然一球不進(jìn)。韓國(guó)隊(duì)由寄成庸在第21分鐘時(shí)點(diǎn)球建功，日本隊(duì)則由前田遼一在第36分鐘時(shí)鏟射空門得手。加時(shí)賽中，日本隊(duì)由替補(bǔ)奇兵細(xì)貝萌在第96分鐘補(bǔ)射建功，韓國(guó)隊(duì)在第119分鐘時(shí)，黃載源將比分扳平，雙方120分鐘打成2-2。

點(diǎn)球大戰(zhàn)：
日本隊(duì)首先主罰，本田圭佑站在門前，他打右上角輕松得分，日本以3-2領(lǐng)先。

韓國(guó)隊(duì)第一個(gè)主罰的是具滋哲，他將球罰向左方，卻被川島永嗣撲出。

第二輪日本岡崎慎司主罰，他也是打上角得分，日本以4-2領(lǐng)先。

韓國(guó)隊(duì)李容來(lái)打得角度太正，再被川島永嗣封出。

第三輪日本長(zhǎng)友佑都主罰，過(guò)于追求角度一腳踢高。

韓國(guó)隊(duì)第三個(gè)主罰的洪正好卻將球打在了球門外的立桿上。

第四輪日本隊(duì)今野泰幸一蹴而就，日本隊(duì)便以5-2淘汰韓國(guó)隊(duì)，率先殺入決賽。

（中文新聞?wù)则v訊體育）