Japan coach Javier Aguirre said his team were knocked out of the Asian Cup by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Friday's quarterfinal in Sydney because they did not score more than one goal in regular time despite dominating possession.
Japan's European club superstars -- Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa and AC Milan winger Keisuke Honda -- missed in the shootout as the UAE won 5-4 on penalties after the game ended 1-1 following 90 minutes of regular time and 30 minutes of extra time.
"Football is a game of scoring goals and we could only score once and that's why the score was 1-1 at full-time," the former Mexico coach said in his post-match briefing. "We had good opportunities in set plays and dominated possession and I think we were superior to our opponent."
The 56-year-old former Atletico Madrid manager also praised the UAE team's tactical approach to take the game to penalties. "The UAE played the match of their lives. They made the right changes to take the game to penalties and they got the result they wanted."
The upset win took the UAE into the Asian Cup semifinals for the first time since hosting the tournament in 1996, when they had finished as runners up to Saudi Arabia. Ironically, it was in the same tournament that Japan were last eliminated before the last four stage. The Samurai Blue had lost 2-0 to Kuwait in Al Ain.
Al Jazira forward Ali Mabkhout scored in the seventh minute of the quarterfinal to put the UAE ahead against the defending champions. Despite dominating possession, it took Japan until the 81st minute to draw level through Kashima Antlers midfielder Gaku Shibasaki's shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Extra time could not separate the teams and the game went to penalties, with Honda missing Japan's first spot-kick before the scores were levelled due to Khamis Esmaeel sending the UAE's third penalty over the bar.
The shootout went to sudden death and, after Kagawa hit the post, Ismail Ahmed scored to take the UAE into a semifinal meeting with hosts Australia on Jan. 27.
"I feel proud of this team because they gave everything in these 120 minutes," said Aguirre. "We played better than our opponent in every aspect. In the end, we went to penalties and that always comes with a 50 percent probability of success. We had a lapse in concentration at the start of the game and that's why we conceded the goal. We had to fight for goals because of that right till the end. They won, but we played good football and tried to score more than them."
Aguirre refused to attribute fatigue as a reason for Japan's quarterfinal defeat. The 56-year-old former Mexico coach had picked the same Japanese starting line-up for the fourth game in a row.
"I will not come up with excuses, the players were well prepared," he said. "I will not talk about luck as well. We deserved to win this game and we showed we can fight. I want the players to keep their heads up and continue."
