Sydney: UAE reached the semi-finals of the Asian Cup on Friday thanks to a shock penalty shootout victory over defending champions Japan.
Mahdi Ali’s side beat the Blue Samurai 5-4 on penalties after their quarter-final had finished 1-1 after extra time at Stadium Australia. They will now play hosts Australia in the last-four on Tuesday.
Substitute Gaku Shibasaki initially saved Japan’s blushes by equalising nine minutes from the end of normal time after Ali Mabkhout had scored to give the Whites an early lead after seven minutes.
Mabkhout had given the UAE the perfect start to the evening when he unleashed a powerful shot into the corner of the net.
It was the striker's fourth goal of the tournament and the first Japan had conceded in Australia, stunning the blue-shirted, drum-thumping band of their supporters behind the goal into a rare silence.
Japan have not won the Asian Cup four times in the last six tournaments by panicking, though, and they continued to press forward after the goal with the neat inter-passing game that won them three from three in the group stage.
As they had in those games, however, Japan failed to convert possession into clear-cut chances, Takashi Inui wasting the best of them in the first half by directing his far post header straight at goalkeeper Majed Nasser.
Japan had kept danger man Omar Abdul Rahman quiet before half-time but the languid midfielder nearly helped his side double the lead four minutes after the break with a delightful flick into the box that Mabkhout just failed to control.
Inui had been replaced by Yoshinori Muto at half-time and the substitute had two chances to make a quick impression but flashed a shot wide before also failing to hit the target with a free header.
That set the template for the next half an hour of the match.
The UAE goal was under almost permanent siege but a combination of stout defending and misfiring Japan forwards kept the underdogs ahead until Shibasaki lashed the ball into the net from the edge of the area after a one-two with Keisuke Honda.
Having been handed a lifeline, Japan looked determined to finish the tie in normal time but continued to waste a string of chances and the profligacy continued into a strangely passionless extra half an hour.
