Azusa Iwashimizu scored the all-important goal as the Nadeshiko ended a 37-year continental drought to add Asia’s premier prize to the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup they had won three years earlier in Germany.
A new dawn
The tournament also marked huge strides forward for women’s football on the continent as Jordan became the first team from the West to participate.
And with the competition doubling up as the qualification event for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, Thailand claimed fifth place to become the Southeast Asian country’s first-ever representatives at an 11-a-side FIFA World Cup.
