Ashgabat: Yazawa Daimu’s heroics against surprise package Afghanistan earned Japan a bronze medal at the Ashgabat 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games men's futsal on Tuesday.
The 2013 silver medallists experience was evident throughout the match as they fought back from a goal down to overcome Abdul Razaq Momrak’s side.
Both sides traded blows in the first half but neither threatened to score and it remained goalless at halftime.
After the break, Kazemi Akbar came within a whisker of putting Afghanistan ahead in the 24th minute but his strike found the crossbar instead.
The match came alive 10th minutes before the final whistle.
Akbar found the net in the 31st minute to give Afghanistan the lead.
Japan, however, got a lifeline four minutes later through Horigome Shota to send the match into extra time.
The tie went to penalties as neither side could break the deadlock in extra time.
At 0-1 down, after Murota Yuki converted his spotkick, Akbar stepped up for Afghanistan but his shot was saved by Daimu which ultimately led to Japan winning 3-1 through Yagi Kyoto and Hashimoto Masaya, while Ali Jafari scored for Afghanistan.
Source: ashgabat2017.com
Source: the-afc.com