Japan's only goal in Saturday's Asian Cup final against Australia was scored by an unlikely match-winner in Tadanari Lee.
The 25-year-old, who plays for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, came into the Asian Cup as an uncapped player and received very little match-time, only being brought on at half-time during Japan's 1-1 draw against Jordan in their opening game.
Lee, who is of Korean heritage and trained with the South Korean under-20 team in 2004, was brought on by coach Alberto Zaccheroni eight minutes into extra-time for his second international cap.
Eleven minutes later, he permanently wrote his name into the history books when he latched onto a cross from Yuto Nagatomo and smashed his volley past Mark Schwarzer into the Australian goal to give Japan an unprecedented fourth Asian Cup title.
It was a beautiful goal, worthy to win any championship, and drew praise even from the Australian players, with defender Sasa Ognenovski saying: "He hit it sweet, he could not have hit it better."
Lee, who started his career with FC Tokyo before joining Kashiwa Reysol, said that he was eager to score after being brought on: "When the ball came to me I thought I needed to smash it."
The striker, whose Korean name is Lee Chung Sung, dismissed questions whether he feels more Korean or Japanese: "I am proud of this game. I'm not Korean, I'm not Japanese, I'm a footballer."
Japanese defender Mya Yoshida praised the attitude of the Japanese bench: "The substitute players like Lee are always waiting for their chance, and he got his big chance against Australia. We had many players who suffered injuries during the tournament, but we managed to cover for them, which was very nice."
Zaccheroni, who had to take on the Australians without inspirational midfielder Shinji Kagawa and Daisuke Matsui, who both left Qatar early with injuries, paid a tribute to his substitutes.
"We played the entire tournament with great courage and always sought to impose our game," he said. "We have a very young team, and the bench players have made a big contribution, just as Lee did."
The 25-year-old, who plays for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, came into the Asian Cup as an uncapped player and received very little match-time, only being brought on at half-time during Japan's 1-1 draw against Jordan in their opening game.
Lee, who is of Korean heritage and trained with the South Korean under-20 team in 2004, was brought on by coach Alberto Zaccheroni eight minutes into extra-time for his second international cap.
Eleven minutes later, he permanently wrote his name into the history books when he latched onto a cross from Yuto Nagatomo and smashed his volley past Mark Schwarzer into the Australian goal to give Japan an unprecedented fourth Asian Cup title.
It was a beautiful goal, worthy to win any championship, and drew praise even from the Australian players, with defender Sasa Ognenovski saying: "He hit it sweet, he could not have hit it better."
Lee, who started his career with FC Tokyo before joining Kashiwa Reysol, said that he was eager to score after being brought on: "When the ball came to me I thought I needed to smash it."
The striker, whose Korean name is Lee Chung Sung, dismissed questions whether he feels more Korean or Japanese: "I am proud of this game. I'm not Korean, I'm not Japanese, I'm a footballer."
Japanese defender Mya Yoshida praised the attitude of the Japanese bench: "The substitute players like Lee are always waiting for their chance, and he got his big chance against Australia. We had many players who suffered injuries during the tournament, but we managed to cover for them, which was very nice."
Zaccheroni, who had to take on the Australians without inspirational midfielder Shinji Kagawa and Daisuke Matsui, who both left Qatar early with injuries, paid a tribute to his substitutes.
"We played the entire tournament with great courage and always sought to impose our game," he said. "We have a very young team, and the bench players have made a big contribution, just as Lee did."
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