Iran, Japan Respectful of Each Other in AFC Asian Cup
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Having won seven AFC Asian Cup titles between them, Iran and Japan will be respectful of each other when they meet in the Qatar 2023 quarter-finals on Saturday.
Iran needed penalties to defeat Syria in the Round of 16 while Japan cruised 3-1 past Bahrain.
Japan is unbeaten against Iran in the AFC Asian Cup (P4 W2 D2), including registering a 3-0 win over the West Asian side in the 2019 semi-finals.
Iran's penalty shootout win against Syria was only its second triumph in six matches requiring spot-kicks since the 1996 edition. Japan, meanwhile, have won three of six games requiring penalties in the same period.
Iran has scored three or more goals six times in the knockout stage of the AFC Asian Cup. Only Japan (8) has done so on more occasions. In fact, Japan has not failed to score in their last nine knockout stage matches - stretching back to the 2011 edition, the longest scoring run in the competition.
Taremi will miss the quarter-finals and Iran will feel his absence. In the nine AFC Asian Cup matches that the West Asian side has played since 2019- with Taremi in the team - it won seven and drew two. The only game he missed was the 3-0 loss to Japan in the 2019 semi-finals.
Ayase Ueda is well on track to become the first Japanese player to score five times in a single edition of the AFC Asian Cup since 2000 after netting his fourth of Qatar 2023 in the 3-1 win over Indonesia. The last Japanese players to score five each was Akinori Nishizawa and Naohiro Takahara.
