Ayman Hussein leads Iraq to a historic victory over Japan and qualify for the Asian Cup final sports

Ayman Hussein scored two goals from two headers in the first half, to lead Iraq to a 2-1 victory over Japan, which did not benefit from its dominance of the ball for most of the match, in the second round of Group D of the Asian Football Cup, today, Friday.

Ayman Hussein opened the scoring in the 5th minute with a header after the ball bounced off the goalkeeper.

Japan dominated the ball during most of the first half, seeking to equalize, but Ayman had a different opinion, as he crowned a quick counterattack with another header in stoppage time for the first half.

Japan’s attempts continued in the second half, but the Iraqi national team presented a strong defensive performance until the 4th minute of stoppage time, when Wataru Endo put the ball into the net with a header from close range.

Iraq is at the top of Group Four with 6 points, 3 points ahead of Japan, which fell to second place.

Iraq began its tournament campaign with a 3-1 victory over Indonesia, and Japan won 4-2 over Vietnam at the beginning of their tournament campaign.

Although their possession of the ball reached 69% during the first half, the Japanese team did not have any attempts at goal, compared to 3 attempts by Iraq, of which they took advantage of 2 to seal the victory.

The Japanese team continued to dominate the course of events in the second half, while Iraq relied on counterattacks.

In the 54th minute, the referee awarded a penalty kick in favor of the Japanese team, after a violation committed by Rebin Sulaga on Takumi Minamino inside the area, but after returning to the video assistant referee and watching the replay on the screen, the referee changed his opinion.

Iraq opens registration#Asia Cup | #AsiaCup2023 | #Iraq_Japan#AsianCup2023 pic.twitter.com/VgNg1S4VA3

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 19, 2024

Ayman Hussein scores the second goal for the Iraqi team against the Japanese team#Asia Cup | #AsiaCup2023 | #Iraq_Japan#AsianCup2023 pic.twitter.com/Mq6e6vchna

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 19, 2024

Wataru Endo scores the first goal for the Japanese team against the Iraqi team #Asia Cup | #AsiaCup2023 | #Iraq_Japan#asiancup2023 pic.twitter.com/Ub8fmjMugz

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 19, 2024