Hello everybody, I am Alex Gendler Smith and I am here to take you through the 2019 Asian Cup Final at the Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Qatar’s had a spectacular route to the final, not conceding in their six games leading up to it, winning every game. Japan also won every game, with their best moment being a 3-0 win over Iran in the semi final.
Embed from Getty ImagesUzbekistan’s Ravshan Irmatov is the referee for tonights game with there expected to be over 36,000 spectators in the stadium.
Lineups
Japan: Shūichi Gonda, Hiroki Sakai, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Maya Yoshida (c), Yuto Nagatomo, Gaku Shibasaki, Tsukasa Shiotani, Ritsu Doan, Takumi Minamino, Genki Haraguchi, Yuya Osako.
Subs: Sho Sasaki, Masaaki Higashiguchi, Tomoaki Makino, Genta Miura, Wataru Endo, Daniel Schmidt, Koya Kitagawa, Sei Muroya.
Qatar: Saad Al Sheeb, Bassam Al-Rawi, Boualem Khoukhi, Tarek Salman, Ró-Ró, Assim Madibo, Abdulaziz Hatem, Abdelkarim Hassan, Hassan Al-Haydos (c), Almoez Ali, Akram Afif.
Subs: Abdelrahman Fahmi Moustafa, Yousof Hassan, Hamid Ismail, Tameem Al Muhaza, Khaled Mohammed, Abdulkareem Salem, Ali Afif, Mohamed Al Bakri.
Kick Off
1′ we kick off here in the final of the 2019 Asian Cup, where either Qatar or Japan will be crowned champions.
4′ Yuya Osako hits a free kick just wide of the post from the right hand side.
GOAL – Japan 0-1 QATAR
12′ INCREDIBLE. The ball is drilled into Almoez Ali who controls it, flicks it up in the air, and then hits a bicycle kick into the bottom right corner. That is a goal that deserves to win a final. Unbelievable. That goal has also just broken the record for goals in an Asian Cup for one player 🤯
20′ 🟨 Gaku Shibasaki is show a yellow card for a foul on Akram Hassan Afif. It was a very bad tackle and could have easily been a red card.
24′ Afif now has to be substituted here…
25′ …and he hasn’t been
GOAL – Japan 0-2 QATAR
27′ WOW! THEY HAVE DOUBLED THEIR LEAD. It is another incredible goal and this time it is from Abdelaziz Hatim, who cuts inside from the right, and from around 25 yards out whips the ball into the top corner. 2-0 Qatar.
31′ Ritsu Doan has a shot from outside the box which is blocked.
45′ One minute has been added on here.
HALF TIME – Japan 0-2 Qatar
Qatar are just 45 minutes away from winning the Asian Cup for the first time in their history if they can hold onto this lead. Two outstanding goals have been the difference so far with not too much separating the two sides in play. Japan will need to step up their performance however if they are to turn this tie around.
56′ Abdelaziz Hatim should have made it 3-0 to Qatar, but he miss-hits a shot from in the six yard box over wildly over the bar.
61′ Qatar substitution: Boualem Khoukhi comes off for Salem Al Hajri.
62′ Japan substitution: Genki Haraguchi comes off for Yoshinori Muto .
GOAL – JAPAN 1-2 Qatar
69′ TAKUMI MINAMINO HAS GOT JAPAN BACK INTO THE GAME. The ball bounces through to Minamino after coming off of Yuya Osako and Minamino dinks the ball into the corner. Japan now back in with a chance.
74′ Qatar substitution: Hassan Al Heidos comes off for Karim Boudiaf.
PENALTY QATAR
82′ The corner is taken and the ball is headed onto the hand of Maya Yoshida and the referee blows for a penalty. Akram Afif can finish the game here.
82′ 🟨 Yoshida is booked for giving away the penalty.
GOAL – Japan 1-3 QATAR
83′ Afif sends the goalkeeper the wrong way and now Qatar are on the verge of winning the cup!
84′ 🟨 Afif is booked for taking his top off in his celebration.
84′ Japan substitution: Tsukasa Shiotani comes off for Junya Ito.
86′ 🟨 Hiroki Sakai is booked.
89′ Japan substitution: Minamino is replaced by Takashi Inui.
90′ There is five minutes of added time.
93′ 🟨 Pedro Miguel is booked for Qatar.
95′ Qatar substitution: Almoez Ali comes off for Ahmed Alaaeldin
FULL TIME – Japan 1-3 Qatar
Qatar become CHAMPIONS OF ASIA. It’s their first title in their history and one which leaves them in good stead for the World Cup which they will be hosting in a few years from now. An incredible night for Qatar, one that they will forever remember. For Japan this will be tough to take, however, they will learn from the experience.
Embed from Getty ImagesThank you for all joining me for the final.
