S-final: Shootout win fires Uzbekistan past Korea Republic

After 120 goalless minutes, Otabek Boymurodov saved penalties from Kang Seong-jin, Kang Sang-yoon and Kim Ji-soo to take Uzbekistan, who have never won the title, into the final for only the second time in their history.

The shoot-out win came at the end of a frustrating game for the hosts who, roared on by a capacity crowd at Bunyodkor Stadium, were unable to find a way through the well-drilled Korean defence until the lottery of spot-kicks determined the outcome.

Jasim was a constant menace to the Japanese defence throughout the game, opening the scoring with a well-taken header after 12 minutes, then setting up Mohammed Jameel to sweep home Iraq’s second in the first half of extra time.

The two goals were cancelled out by Takatora Einaga and Naoki Kumata, allowing the Samurai Blue to force a penalty shootout that was eventually won by the Lions of Mesopotamia after Kodai Sano’s spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Hussein Hassan.

The four goals were spread across the four periods of play as Ali Jasim and Takatora Einaga exchanged efforts in either half of the 90 minutes, while Mohammed Jameel and Naoki Kumata came off the bench to score in the two halves of extra time respectively.