DOHA ¨C Japan clinched the Under-23 Asian Cup after it beat Uzbekistan 1-0 on Friday, with an injury time penalty save by Leo Kokubo securing the trophy for Go Oiwa¡¯s side.
Substitute Fuki Yamada gave the Japanese squad the lead when he stroked his shot into the bottom corner of the Uzbek goal in the 91st minute, but a handball by Hiroki Sekine gifted Uzbekistan an opportunity to take the game into extra time.
Kokubo, however, dived to his right to keep out Umarali Rakhmanaliev¡¯s spot kick to give Japan its second under-23 title since 2016.
Japan and Uzbekistan went into the final at Doha¡¯s Jassim bin Hamad Stadium having already claimed two of Asia¡¯s three berths for the Olympics in Paris this summer, with the tournament serving as the continent¡¯s final eliminator for the Games.
Iraq took third place on Thursday with an extra-time win over Indonesia, who will play Guinea on May 9 in a playoff for the last remaining spot in the Games.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.