PAUL EJIME, Lagos | Thursday 9.00am.
FORMER South African national coach Phillipe Troussier guided Japan to the final of the World Youth Championship against Spain on Saturday, after beating Uruguay 2-1 in a thrilling late night match here Wednesday.
The Japanese youth team, trained by Troussier after he coached Bafana Bafana into the first World Cup, dominated the first half of a hard fought match, making most of the running and taking most of the possession. Naohiro Takahara opened the scoring for Japan in the 23rd minute, but the Japanese lead was short-lived as Uruguay levelled within two minutes through Ernesto Chevanton.
But Japan went back in front in the 35th minute through Yuichiro Nagai.
In the second half, the Asian side appeared to tire in the heat, and Uruguay pressed hard for an equaliser, surging repeatedly into the Japanese half.
A minute from full time, Uruguay came close to levelling when goalkeeper Tatsuya Enomoto stopped a powerful drive on the line.
The Japanese, the only Asian side left in the competition after the first round saw Korea knocked out, will be up against Spain, who earlier won 3-1 against Mali.
Fernando Varela Ramos opened the scoring for the Spanish, playing in the northern town of Kaduna, with just two minutes on the clock, putting in a classic striker’s tap-in and quickly made it 2-0 with a second goal in the 26th minute.
Varela appeared set for a hat-trick when he found the net a third time, only to hear a linesman blow for off-side.
In the second half, Mali, who earlier in the tournament had come back to win 5-4 from 4-2 down with 20 minutes to play against Cameroon, struck back, getting back into the game through Mahamadou Dissa in the 52nd minute.
But Xavier Hernandez Creus put the result beyond doubt on the stroke of full time.
The championship, the largest ever football festival played in Africa, has seen a series of surprises on the way to the final with defending champions Argentina knocked out in the second round, England going out in round one without scoring and Brazil knocked out in the quarter finals by Uruguay. — AFP