Japan beat Syria to earn their first win of 2011 Asian Cup
Japan successfully managed to claim their first victory of the 2011 Asian Cup, as they beat Syria by two goals to one. The game saw both teams cut down to 10 men, but Japan used their experience and quality to beat their opponents and stay in contention to qualify for the next round of the tournament.
Makoto Hasebe opened the scoring in the game, when he found the back of the net in the 35th minute. The next goal came 15 minutes before the end of the match, when Eiji Kawashima, the Japanese keeper went on to hack down Sanharib Malki Sabah in the area and award the Syrians with a penalty kick. Firas Al Khatib stepped up to take the resulting spot kick and found the back of the net with ease, drawing the scores level in the game.
However, with just 7 minutes left on the clock, Japan happened to earn a penalty of their own. Shinji Okazaki, the Japanese dynamo, rushed into the Syrian area, but found it close to impossible to beat two Syrian defenders and as a result went down to a late challenge in the box. Keisuke Honda, the Japanese superstar went on to take the resulting spot kick and dispatched his effort with ease.
Afterwards, Syria tried to press on the Japanese in the closing stages of the game, in hopes of picking up a late equalizer that would help turn the match in their favour. However, all this extra effort from the Syrians only ended up working against them, as they too were reduced to 10 men before the end of the game. Nadim Sabag, the overly ambitious Syrian player, who went on to make a second bookable offence, was shown a second yellow and promptly given his marching orders. Japan, then held onto their narrow lead over the Syrians and saw the rest of the game run out, with them dominating possession.
The game came to an end with Japanese beating the Syrians by two goals to one, with two of the goals in the game being scored via penalties.
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