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#3 Japan made a brief comeback in the second half, but Qatar were too good for them
Japan tried to come back into the match and even managed to reduce the deficit in the 69th minute through a strike by Takumi Minamino. However, Qatar’s defence held firm and did not allow any further slip-ups. Bassam was again superb in the defence for Qatar yesterday and thwarted a lot of Japanese attacks.
Full-backs Sakai and Nagatomo made some overlapping runs for the Japanese through the right and left flanks respectively, but their efforts were not good enough to breach the solid Qatari defence. Qatar got a corner in the 82nd minute and Japanese captain Yoshida handled the ball while trying to defend it. The referee consulted the VAR before awarding a penalty to Qatar. Afif did not make any mistake in converting from the spot and gave Qatar a 3-1 lead.
Qatar’s 3rd goal virtually ended any chances of a late Japanese revival and won them their first Asian Cup crown. They should remain a great force in Asian football in the coming years as well.
