Saudi Arabia advanced to the final after defeating Japan on one of the most celebrated and remembered match of Asian Cup. The three times former champion fought a vicious battle and only managed to defeat Japan by narrow score. The blue clad crowds who dominated My Dinh Stadium were left in blue after seeing their favorite team failed to win. Both teams did not make any significant changes to the line up in this match.

The match started in heated fashion after Japan succeeded in creating the early chances. It was in the eight minute that Shunsuke Nakamura lobbed a ball to looming Yuki Nakazawa, to the relief of Saudi’s fans; Al Mosailem punched the ball away to safety. Japan had another chance when Seichiro Maki almost squared the ball before he was denied by Al Mosailem.

Saudi did not have significant chances in the early 30 minutes but the gulf elite squandered for a lead in the 35^th minute. Yasser Al Qahtani intercepted a pass from Tassar Al Jassam and netted the ball past Kawaguchi. Yuki Nakazawa paid his mistake of allowing Yasser to score by scoring an equalizer two minutes afterward. The frizzy haired defender rammed the ball past Al Mosailem after receiving Endo well aimed corner. Japan almost ended the first half with a lead when Al Mosailem failed to parry Nakamura’s free kick correctly. The ball glided dangerously near Saudi’s goal before it went out.

Saudi took an early lead in the second half after Malek Maaz finished a counter attack move. The Japanese defenders who had their attention to Yasser was surprised to see Malek Maaz dribbled his way past Nakazawa and Yuki Abe to net the ball past Kawaguchi. Japan equalized again shortly afterward thanks to Endo corner. This time it was Yuki Abe turn to perform a spectacular overhead kick to ram the ball past helpless Al Mosailem. Malek Maaz displayed his fabulous dribbling skill again when he bypassed Yuki Abe and Yuki Nakazawa for the second time to net the ball past Kawaguchi.

Saudi’s lead was almost leveled after Naotake Hanyu’s long range drive only hammered the cross bar. Saudi retained the lead afterward although the team players performed several unsporting attitudes by purposely wasting times without any visible punishment from the referee. Saudi will travel to Jakarta again to fight the final match against Iraq while Japan will travel to Palembang to fight the equally prestigious third place battle against South Korea. Saudi Arabia v Japan ended 2-3.