Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Vientiane: Japan scored three times in the final ten minutes to defeat Laos 3-2 in an AFF Under-16 Preparatory Tournament match on Wednesday.
Japan finally made the breakthrough with 80 minutes of the game at the Lao National Stadium played thanks to a superb solo effort from Koki Sugimori before further goals from Ryoma Watanabe and Kento Kawata sealed the hard-fought win that sees Ejiri Atsuhiko's side play Australia on Friday in the final of the four-team tournament.
"The Laos team is strong and quick but the game plan was to keep possession on go on the quick counter-attacks," Atsuhiko told the ASEAN Football Federation's official website.
"We are improving from game to game and we look forward to playing against Australia in the final."
Both Japan and Laos are gearing up for the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship which starts in Iran in September, with Japan pooled in Group C with defending champions DPR Korea, Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic while Laos face hosts Iran in their tournament curtain raiser before subsequent Group A matches against Kuwait and Yemen.