On Saturday in Qatar after the Japan defeated Australia 1-0, at the end of the 2011 Edition, you could see why Europeans experienced are still in demand. Alberto Zaccheroni proved his worth in Doha with a revolutionary tactical switch that could have come out of an Italian textbook.
Japan had impressed in the tournament with their technical abilities and fleeting, but an hour in a fun and breathless quarrel, was unable to get his usual game in gear.
The Socceroos, who joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, we were looking dangerous in attack and largely undisturbed on the back.
Zaccheroni, previously, the coach of AC Milan and Juventus before going to Japan in August, retired Jungo Fujimoto at the right side of midfield in favor of Daiki Iwamasa, who moved to the Centre of defence to cope better with Australia's air assault. The trainer then shifted Yasuyuki Konno in left side, allowing Yuto Nagatomo move the field.
It Worked. After 109 minutes of scoreless soccer, Nagatomo, which defends the Cesena Italy's Serie A and is one of Japan's growing legion of stars with European base, if liberated. His cross found Tadanari Lee cleared in the central area, and with a balance of a boot-rosa, shot a substitute winner spectacular past a helpless Mark Schwarzer.
Was a strike worthy of winning any tournament and gave Japan a record fourth continental title. Zaccheroni "Not won an international competition before," said after the game. "This is the first time. This is an excellent team, and we have great players, so I'm proud to manage this team.
"I wanted to reinforce the midfield. We really couldn't control this enough space. Then I pushed Nagatomo, "said Zaccheroni. "And we look better, and from that point, Australia looked kind of loose. I was surprised, because they were so compact before. "
Goal of Lee, his first for Japan in his second appearance, finished a tournament in three weeks.
Philippe Troussier knows everything about how it feels to win the AFC Asian Cup. He led the Japan for her second continental title in 2000 and then to the second round of the 2002 FIFA World Cup before entering into the national team of Qatar in 2003. After leaving Doha in 2004, he was back to watch the final.
"The tournament was OK," said the Frenchman. "At the beginning, four teams had the ambition to win — Japan, Australia, South Korea and Iran. How the top three finish is a nice football Asian representation at this time. " Korea came in third with a 3-2 victory over Uzbekistan on Friday.
The gap between the trio and the rest in terms of professionalism seems to be growing, as a.f.c Chief, Mohamed Bin Hammam, acknowledged at a news conference before the end. For most of his nine years in Office, the Yemeni focused on raising standards across the continent. No team in the Middle East did for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and none has evolved past the quarterfinals in Qatar, with host; the champion, Iraq. and everyone will fall into this phase.
Despite the disappointment, Iran coach Afshin Ghotbi, was quietly impressed with the level of play.
"Soccer Asian giant has taken steps in recent years," said Ghotbi. "It was evident in the tournament that Asia has a long way to go, but the game is heading the right direction."
Off the field, was far more attention focused on the tournament than ever. FIFA's decision, made on the 2nd of December, to deliver the 2022 FIFA World Cup for the small nation with a population of 1.5 million, blistering summer temperatures and little history of football has raised eyebrows. The international media were eager to see if the Asiatic Cup would indicate if Qatar had what he would host the global event for 11 years on the road.
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