soccer

Japan lifts Asian Cup with 1-0 win over Australia

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The "River Island God" sure had Kawashima's back, eh? Kawa is river and Shima is island in Japanese.

Well, thank you so much for telling all of us that.

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Now I urge Australia to change their silly name from Socceroos to something more respectable.

You mean something equally as silly, like "Samurai Blue"? Most national teams have odd names.

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The champions should've been Australia. Somehow, they just couldn't find the back of the net. The "River Island God" sure had Kawashima's back, eh? Kawa is river and Shima is island in Japanese. This is the year of the rabbit and the Japan team has shown us how to pull them out of hats. I'm sure they will show us many more magical performances. Too bad for the ticket holders who couldn't get in. Maybe they should've arrived at the stadium earlier, I'm guessing.

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I watched the game with the sound off. It was great. I agree with Ironchef about Cahill. What a whiner. Also, do you think the Australina player who drove his shoulder into Kawashima while he had his arms up catching the ball? The ref didn't see it, but it is pretty blatant on the videos I saw.

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As a neutral observer, must admit it was a great victory not only for Japan but for the game of football. Japan has finesse and style, Australia neither. Now I urge Australia to change their silly name from Socceroos to something more respectable.

"Paul Taylor" - it sounds as though you have one hell of a chip on your shoulder. Drop the negativity. The rest of us applaud a great final between two good teams who are making the rest of the world sit up and take notice.

BTW - the socceroos is a great name, well-liked by most Aussies (and foreigners) - unfortunately, your opinion does not count.

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I was disappointed that Australia played so much long ball footy to try to make the most of Tim Cahill's aerial prowess - it becomes too predictable. They did have more chances overall. But Japan played a nice, patient passing style of play with good interchanges between Nagatomo, Endo, Honda and Hasebe, although I thought the strikers Okazaki and Maeda were mostly well contained. Overall, not unhappy with the result, even though I am Australian. Japan are worthy winners here.

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Congrats to Japan.

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Good game. A lot of naysayers put in their places it looks like. I am one of em. Hope the Z-man can do for Team Japan what that French guy (Tourssier?) did.

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Japan were just extra lucky last night.

With Korean touch.

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Beg to disagree. A few gripes aside, I thought Australia played with flair and style. Japan had trouble keeping their focus. Blessed with a great coach, of course, but I think Japan were just extra lucky last night.

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As a neutral observer, must admit it was a great victory not only for Japan but for the game of football. Japan has finesse and style, Australia neither. Now I urge Australia to change their silly name from Socceroos to something more respectable. Have not seen someone as big of a whiner as Kewell. My god, is it typical Aussie behavior to moan, whine about just about everything? What a girl and sore loser he is. Japan showed good spirit and class all the way unlike Korea or Australia. This was a great victory for all the people who love the sport of football.

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If it weren't for the idiots commentating on the game it would have been all the better

smith, you should watch it on BS satellite TV next time. That's what I did. The commentators are much calmer and much less biased. I've had enough of Matsuki.

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Endo was once again magnificent

I still can't get my head round some of this praise about Endo. Did I watch a completely different game last night?? Being magnificent in soccer in my book usually constitutes never losing possession of the ball, certainly not as many times as Endo did.

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pretty good game fairly evenly matched, too bad a goal or 2 didnt go in during regulation to up the drama a bit, Honda played decent but certainly didnt deserve the mvp which was nice of him to admit!

The goal, excellent cross & even better finish which is usually where Jpn chokes. Also kudos to the J-goalie who made some fine saves

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Great win for Japan, but watching the Aussie team, does Cahill complain on every single play??

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Great win for Japan. Japan v Australia is morphing rapidly into a great football rivalry.

Not too sure where the marking was for the goal, but it was one hell of a volley. Any professional will tell you that volleying is the hardest technique to get right, but Lee struck it beautifully leaving Schwarzer to just watch it nestle into the net.

Fujimoto looked well out of his depth, Maeda looked a bit leaden-footed and I'm still yet to be convinced that Okazaki has what it takes to be a good international forward. He just doesn't seem to have the calmness he displays for S-Pulse (now Stuttgart) and tends to try and make up for it with plenty of running.

On the flip side, Endo was once again magnificent, Kawashima came through when it mattered and Honda, for all his critics he seems to have for some reason, played well. He held the ball up, was able to pick passes and generally occupy two Australian defenders.

To win the final without Kagawa, Matsui (both injured in the tournament) and Morimoto (injured pre-tournament) says a lot for the depth of Japanese football at the minute. Hopefully more good times ahead. Congratulations Japan!!!!!

And, as an aside, kudos to all the Australian fans on here who complimented Japan on their win. No snidey remarks, no "we were robbed". Just very magnanimous. Nice.

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A pretty good game in terms of the two teams being level. I have to say Japan had much better passing and ball play in general, particularly in the second half. The Aussies did a wicked job, though, of driving toward the net (especially in the first half), and had some very, very close shots.

If it weren't for the idiots commentating on the game it would have been all the better. Congratulations Japan on a well-deserved win.

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and little about how their foreign coach (who the players didn't originally want to avoid the language barrier) had completely reorganised the squad.

Wrong there, britling. Zacheroni and ZacJapan have been given two "あっぱれ" by TV commentators this morning on the TV show サンデーモーニング. Zacheroni was even praised on サンデー・ジャポン as having good insight into the players' strengths and was especially masterful in how he brought on his substitutes (Lee, Inoha, and Iwamasa).

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Lee is a North Korean who became a Japanese citizen when he turned 20 years old because he has to choose nationality by that age as required by Japanese law. He plays for NK if NK goes into tournament and even plays against Japan when required. I don't know if he will ever be welcomed to SK though...but great goal. It really looked like a movie scene the way he made that goal.

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No doubt we will hear much about how this victory owed much to Japanese willpower, Japanese spirit, Japanese genes... and little about how their foreign coach (who the players didn't originally want to avoid the language barrier) had completely reorganised the squad.

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Ethnic Koreans can keep their names if they take Japanese citizenship. My understanding is that Japanese family names have to be officially written in Chinese characters on a family registry. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong). Korean family names can be written in Chinese characters, so no problem there. But they'd better give Lee that trophy! He kicked the bejeezus out of that ball in mid air. The Aussie keeper barely had time to wave as it went by and he's one tough bloke. It looked like Kung Fu Soccer. Lee might also be eligible for South Korea's team. Japan had better be nice to him.

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I have heard of leaving a man unmarked in the penalty area, but that was unbelievable. Not a good time to go walkabout. Great shot though, it looked after the game like Lee was surprised that he had pulled it off when the camera showed him demonstrating what he did to another player.

Just out of curiosity, anybody know why Lee has kept his Korean name. I was under the impression that when ethnic Koreans, or anybody else, took out Japanese citizenship, they were required to take a Japanese name. Wikipedia says he took out his citizenship in 2007. Not saying his ethnicity is any big deal, no more than England starting a striker named "Rooney" is a big deal, but I am just wondering exactly how the name thing works.

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Lee's goal really looked as if it came out of a soccer anime.

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Congratulations to Japan. I am sorry for Australia because they did not play so bad but this game was for Japan! Great goal by Lee.

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Wait..since when is Australia part of Asia??

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Kawashima pulled off some good saves but was woeful on crosses. A very mixed bag.

Laughed at the comment above 'didn't see the game but Australia would beat England'. The day that England defends the goal in the way that Australia defended it, it's the day to give up. Awful. Any schoolboy would tell you to watch the man and not the ball and the Aussie defender was very guilty of ball watching which left Lee free to score. It was a cracking goal though.

On the whole I enjoyed the match between two pretty evenly matched teams, though one is on the way up and the other needs a lot of rebuilding.

A great result for Japan and thoroughly deserved. Well done.

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The best news of today!

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The Australians basically dominated the game in the first half, but were a different team in the second. They looked ... old. As for Japan, there was too much of a gap between the good players and bad players on the team. Honda, Endo, Nagatomo, Okazaki, Lee, and Kawashima were excellent. Uchida sucked, Fujimoto did jack, Yoshida was shaky, Maeda was slow ... Anyway, congrats Japan. You played hard and didn't give up.

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Congrats to Japan. They've always been chided for a lack of stamina, but this year, they seem to have gotten the right vitamins to keep up their energy though the overtime.

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Great international debut for Lee, Ayumi must be thrilled. Congrats.

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A very nice Goal. Face of the Goal-keeper was sad as he realised he won't get close to that ball.

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Excellent game with a fantastic set up for a blistering shot. A great game, very entertaining.

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Is it over yet? Can we put Japanese soccer in the entertainment section in future instead of sports.

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A bit harsh there nylex4,great game well done Japan ! This tournament will be very significant for your future in developing the heart and resolve of the young squad,plus I really think the win means more to your public than it would have to Australians.

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That is a cracking win against a bloody good Ozzie side. Had to make do with text commentary back in the UK and by the sounds of it the Ozzies were on top for much of the match. Well done anyway Japan and hard luck to the Socceroos. You would probably both beat England at the moment if that is any smidgen of consolation. That said expect a thrashing in Brisbane later today!

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the usual story with australian football - never quite good enough...

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