AFC Asian Cup Day 15 Recap: Japan, Australia & United Arab Emirates qualify for quarterfinals

The troika of games were filled with dramatic events that kept fans on the edge of their seats.

A string of cagey matches and nail-biting victories defined the AFC Asian Cup’s second day of the Round of 16 matches. Japan edged past Saudi Arabia 1-0 at the Sharjah Stadium to book a clash with Vietnam in the quarterfinals. Takehiro Tomiyasu’s clever header in the 20th minute proved to be the winner for the confident Samurai Blue.

The game was actually dominated by Saudi Arabia, who after going behind, came back with full force. The Green Falcons pushed men forward to try and get an equalizer, but despite attempting 15 shots on goal, they could only produce a single shot on target. Japan were just too good defensively, shutting out the Saudis' attacking threat with intelligent defending.

Watch: Japan 1-0 Saudi Arabia highlights

Interestingly, the last two times Japan defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the AFC Asian Cup knockout stages, they went on to win the tournament on both occasions. While it’s to be seen whether that can come true this time as well, Samurai Blue look a force to be reckoned with. They’ll now face the dangerous Vietnam side, who’ve earned the reputation of being giant-killers so far and will look to continue their fairy-tale.

Matt Ryan was the hero for Australia, who managed to luckily pip a resurgent Uzbekistan 0-0 (4-2) on penalties at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain. The defending champions couldn’t manage to break the deadlock in regular time and needed their goalkeeper to bail them out on penalties. Despite having nine shots on target, the Socceroos were kept out by Ignatiy Nesterov’s solid work. They were almost stunned when Uzbekistan created a few commendable chances in regular time and forced two solid saves from Ryan.

Watch: Australia 0 (4)- (2) 0 Uzbekistan highlights

The Brighton #1 proved his ability in the shootout, where Australia actually missed the second penalty thanks to Nesterov’s own good reflexes. However, Ryan made two confident stops to avert disaster and help the defending champs move forward. Despite being second-best, the White Wolves impressed with their confident style and almost caused an upset, if not for the Socceroos goalkeeper's brilliance.

Australia will miss influential midfielder Tomas Rogic in the quarterfinals, where they’ll be facing the hosts United Arab Emirates. The hosts had to fight tooth and nail to defeat a resilient Kyrgyz Republic side 3-2 in extra-time at the Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi. The Whites got the lead early on through Khamis Esmeel’s clever goal, which was soon cancelled out by Mirlan Murzaev.

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UAE regained the lead after the hour mark through Ali Mabkhout’s goal, but constant pressure from the Kyrgyz Republic for the equalizer paid off late on, with Turusunali Rustamov’s dramatic last-minute goal. Heading into extra-time, both teams were exhausted, but the hosts' determination earned them a penalty, which was duly converted by Ahmed Khalil.

Watch: UAE 3-2 Kyrgyz Republic highlights

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However, Lady Luck favoured the UAE on the day, as the Kyrgyz Republic showed an incredible work-ethic throughout the game to try and cause an upset. They struck the post twice and created some great chances, but poor finishing let them down on occasions. But, The White Falcons can be proud of having given the UAE a run for their money at their own home ground and on another day, they could’ve even created history by progressing ahead.

The Whites were themselves dog-tired from the amount of hard work they had put into this relatively “easy” fixture. The UAE will definitely improve as a unit as Alberto Zaccheroni will aim to work on their finishing as well as defending. If the hosts are to go toe-to-toe with the Socceroos, they need to up their performance and put on a better showing in the quarterfinals.