Asian Cup Matches 25 and 26: Hosts UAE and Japan Progress to Round of 16

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2020.

Asian Cup Matches 25 and 26: Japan v Kyrgyzstan and Brunei v UAE

Hosts UAE and Japan Progress to Round of 16

January 11th, 2020

Japan 4 Kyrgyzstan 1

 

The battle for second place in Group A was a relative walk in the park as Japan scored four goals to oversee Kyrgyzstan and find their way into the Round of 16.

 

Japan brought in Yosuke Ideguchi as a defensive midfielder, while Kyrgyztan swapped their formation around, still keeping their back three, and bringing Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov into the starting eleven at left midfield.

 

Straight away, the Kyrgyz players set about attacking, with Edgar Berhardt’s tough going beyond the keeper before the Japanese defence were able to clear the ball. Bernhardt’s second effort was far better, hitting the post.

 

Instead of crumbling under the pressure, Japan pounced on a poor defensive pass and Kensuke Nagai made no mistake.

 

Hotaru Yamaguchi had a chance to double the lead, only to muff the one-on-one situation.

 

Down the other end, Mirlan Murzaev showed his prowess with a great individual goal, levelling the scores and setting up the remainder of the half as a tight tussle.  Murzaev had another chance at a goal, only for it to be parried.

 

Gulzhigit Alyokolv had one last effort before the break, only to header wide of the mark.

 

After halftime, Nagai gained his brace with a deft touch only allowing the Kyrgyz goalkeeper to get a fingertip on the ball, but no more than that. Genki Haraguchi then found Musashi Suzuki and he headed back across goal and hit the inside of the side netting.

 

Suzuki then found Nagai late for his third goal for Japan to round out their second win and the place in the knockout stages and giving Kyrgyzstan little hope of progressing in third place.

 

Important aspects of the match:

Japan’s best afield: Nagai with his hat trick; Suzuki with his goal and assists; Haraguchi with his assist.

Ideguchi with most passes for Japan, alongside Haraguchi and Sho Sasaki.

Ideguchi with equal most successful dribbles alongside Haraguchi and Suzuki.

Takumi Minamino with most tackles for Japan.

Yuki Kobayashi with three key intercepts and two clearances.

 

Kyrgyzstan’s best afield: Murzaev with his goal; Valerii Kichin in central defence with five intercepts and two clearances; Bernhardt with his shots and most tackles overall.

Viktor Maier with most passes overall and equal most successful dribbles.

Farhat Musabekov with three key intercepts and three clearances.

Tamirlan Kozubaev with four key clearances and two intercepts.

 

 

Brunei 0 UAE 2

 

In the other match played at the same time, the United Arab Emirates breezed beyond Brunei, making it three wins from three matches thus far and setting up a potential win in the Round of 16.

 

The UAE kept an unchanged starting eleven, with Ismail Al Hammadi up front. Brunei also went into the game unchanged.

 

The first half saw neither team really penetrating deep in attack, though Brunei had the better of the play in their forward half. Both goalkeepers were brought into play once via crosses slightly off their intended marks.

 

Eventually, Nur Norsamri had a pot shot, only to fly straight to the Emirates’ goalkeeper.

 

Bander Al-Ahbabi had a header early in the second period from a free kick, only he was too far out for it to be a dangerous shot.

 

Instead, Al-Ahbabi crossed to Ahmed Khalil minutes later, who ensured he ruffled the back of the net.

 

Al Hammadi then tried setting up Al-Ahbabi as he had done with the free kick, only for the right midfielder to miss to the left.

 

In his place, Khalil set up a sneaky pass to Abdalla Ramadan, who shot from a tight angle and into the goal.

 

In similar fashion, Khalil crossed to Al Hammadi, but the striker missed to the left.

 

Towards the latter stages of the match, Al Hammadi tried again, but this time the shot flew to the right.

 

Still, the UAE did enough to gain their third win and solid momentum into their upcoming Round of 16 match.

 

Important aspects of the match:

Brunei’s best afield: Hariz Khallidden as left midfield; Asri Aspar; Khalid Mahmud in defence with equal most tackles, two key intercepts and two clearances.

Nur Norsamri and Razimie Ramlli with most passes for Brunei.

Norsamri with most dribbles for Brunei.

Naziruddin Ismail with equal most tackles.

Suhaimi Anak Sulau with two clearances and two intercepts.

Hanif Hamir with two clearances and two intercepts.

Yura Indera Putera Yunos with three intercepts.

 

UAE with 56% possession.

UAE’s best afield: Khalil with his goal and assist; Walid Abbas in central defence with four intercepts and two clearances; Ramadan with his goal and equal most tackles for the match; Al-Ahbabi with his goal assist.

Yousef Jaber with the most passes and dribbles for the match from left back.

Khalifa Al Hammadi with two key clearances and an intercept.

Khalid Eisa caught two crosses.

 

Group A

The UAE and Japan both progress through to the Round of 16 and are likely to face opponents they will be comfortable playing against and probably winning. Kyrgyzstan have a nervous wait to see if two third-placed sides end up below them, otherwise they will be joining their new rivals Brunei in exiting the Asian Cup stage.

 

	Group A	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
1	UAE	3	3	0	0	9	+5
2	Japan	3	2	0	1	6	+9
3	Kyrgyzstan	3	1	0	2	3	-4
4	Brunei	3	0	0	3	0	-10