Tokyo, 15 January, /AJMEDIA/
Takumi Minamino scored two goals as Japan came from behind to beat Vietnam 4-2 in the Asian Cup on Sunday.
The tournament favorite trailed 2-1 in the first half despite Minamino opening the scoring after 11 minutes of the Group D match.
Nguyen Dình Bac evened the score at Al Thumama Stadium five minutes later and Vietnam, ranked 94th by FIFA, went ahead through Pham Tuan Hai’s goal in the 33rd.
Record four-time Asian Cup winner Japan is ranked 17th by world soccer’s governing body and is tipped to regain the trophy it last won in 2011.
It recovered from the surprise of going behind when former Liverpool player Minamino, who is now at Monaco, equalized in the 45th.
Keito Nakamura made it 3-2 in first-half stoppage time and substitute Ayase Ueda extended Japan’s lead in the 85th.
Indonesia plays Iraq in Group D on Monday.
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Hong Kong’s Philip Chan Siu Kwan scored the 1,000th goal in the history of the Asian Cup, but his team still fell to a 3-1 defeat against United Arab Emirates.
Chan briefly evened the score in the Group C game four minutes into the second half after Sultan Adil had given UAE the lead from the penalty spot in the 34th.
But it took just three minutes for UAE to regain the advantage through Zayed Sultan.
Substitute Yahya Al Ghassani struck in the fifth minute of time added on to complete the win against a Hong Kong team that is the lowest ranked in the tournament at 150th in the FIFA standings.