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Al Ain, UAE (AFP) – Japan ended its 43-year-old Iranian dream and denied it the Asian Cup for the fourth time in its history, beating the Italians 3-0 in the semi-final Monday at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, in the city of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.
Japan reached the final for the fifth time after its peak in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011, while the Iranian dream reached the final after the titles of 1968, 1972 and 1976. The Werder Bremen strikers Joya Osako (56 , 67) and Genki Haraguchi (90 + 1) scored goals for Japan, which will be in the UAE and Qatar host final on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.
9 Football.
Japan maintained its perfect record in the semifinals, having lost only one time against Saudi Arabia in 2007 and having gone through it four days before its title match, while Iran could not break the "turn-around" knot and qualify for the finals for the first time in 43 years.
Since taking third place, Iran have failed to make the semifinal in six attempts or score a goal against Japan after four matches.
Japan and Iran face their first semifinals and fourths in the history of the tournament after the draws of 1988, 1992 (1-0) and 2004 (zero).
Iran had hoped to break this contract with Japan after the impressive results of the current version, with four wins and one draw, and scored 12 goals. Net goalkeeper Alireza Biranfand was kept clean.
However, after poor performances, Japan has not improved comfortably in its five previous matches: it has scored five wins by one goal, including three with a score of 1-0, and eight goals and three goals conceded.
But something changed in Iran's face, after a cautious first-half game and second-half thrills, which allowed Japan to score three goals in the middle of defensive fouls.
© 2019 AFP
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