Iraq stun Japan to seal Asian Cup last-16 spot

Iraq claimed their first victory over Japan in 42 years when they won their Asian Cup Group D encounter 2-1 on Friday to qualify for the knockout stage thanks to a first-half double from Aymen Hussein at the Education City Stadium.

Japan were unbeaten against the West Asian side in their last nine games and Iraq's victory propelled them to the top of the group standings with six points from two games.

Hajime Moriyasu's side have three points, the same as Indonesiawho beat Vietnam 1-0 in the other Group D game.

"Today is a great day for Iraqi people but for us it's just a win. We have six points, but the players must now think of Vietnam (in the last group game) and they need to rest," Iraq coach Jesus Casas told reporters.

"I'm very proud of my players. All Iraqi players should be proud... The perfect match is impossible, but we were close to the perfect match I wanted."

Roared on by thousands of Iraqi supporters in the stadium, Iraq got on the board inside five minutes when Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki failed to deal with a cross, parrying the ball straight to Hussein who headed it into the top corner.

Iraq's strategy to unsettle Japan was to stay compact and use their physicality early on, which worked to an extent until the East Asian side began using their pace and finding space on the wings to put crosses into the box.

Japan had a golden opportunity to equalise in the 22nd minute from a set piece when a header fell to Wataru Endo at the edge of the six-yard box, but the skipper was unable to direct an overhead kick into the net.

Iraq doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime when Ahmed Al-Hajjaj skipped past his marker and floated in a cross that was headed home from point-blank range by Hussein.

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