Hamza al-Daradreh of Jordan (L) celebrates his goal with Yousef Ahmad Mohamed during their Group D Asian Cup match in Melbourne yesterday.
DPA/Sydney
Japan defeated Iraq 1-0 to move three points clear at the top of Asian Cup Group D while Hamza al-Daradreh bagged four goals to become tournament top scorer as Jordan kept their hopes alive with a 5-1 drubbing of Palestine.
After a slow start, Jordan stormed to a three-goal lead at half time and eventually won in style thanks to a wonderful strike from Yousef Ahmad and-al-Daradreh heroics.
It was Jordan’s first win since March 2014 and the first under the guidance of coach Ray Wilkins. Japan top the group on six points thanks to Keisuke Honda converting a 23rd minute penalty after he was fouled in the box. The all-action Honda had a busy match, also hitting the woodwork on three separate occasions. Jordan are level with Iraq in second, on three points but having lost when the teams met, must get a better result against Japan in their last game than Iraq manage against Palestine to progress.
“I don’t suppose we could have asked for it to go too much better from the goal-scoring perspective,” Wilkins said. “I’ve been hoping they could get a victory to get their confidence up.
“They are a young side. They’re good boys though and they try to implement everything I ask of them. It doesn’t always come off I can assure you, but today was one of those days.”
Iraq fought gamely against Japan but despite peppering the Japanese box with several set pieces, failed to get a clear chance in front of keeper Elji Kawashima.
Japan started brightly on what was Yasuhito Endo’s 150th cap and Honda could have opened the scoring when he headed onto the post from point-blank range.
Moments later he did find the net from the spot as two Iraq defenders sandwiched him in attempting to clear after Shinji Okazaki was denied by a superb save by Jalal Hassan Hachim.
After the break Honda hit the bar from 20 yards with a swerving shot which left Hachim nowhere and his frustration grew as he somehow contrived to hit the post from Shinji Kagawa’s cross with the goal gaping.
Iraq had a fair share of possession but the Japanese defence was always in control and Kawashima was called into action for only a couple of routine saves.
In Melbourne, the game burst to life in the 34th minute when Ahmad curled in a superb opening goal from the corner of the box to give Jordan the lead.
Just 60 seconds later the advantage was doubled by Al Dardour when he tapped home a shot from Abdallah Deeb which was heading just the wrong side of the post.
And when al-Daradreh was again on hand to provide a simple finish to Odai al-Saify’s cross, Jordan were cruising.
Palestine had struck the bar through Hisham Salhi early on but the minnows made defensive mistakes which were harshly punished at this level.
After the break al-Daradreh raced clear to complete his hat-trick in 75 minutes and five minutes later he converted a cross from Oday Zahran to overtake the United Arab Emirates’ Ali Mabkhout as top scorer in the competition.
Palestine refused to give up and Jaka Hbaisha claimed their historic first goal at the finals with a late consolation, firing home a free kick at the back post.
