Japan beats Qatar, qualifies for World Youth Championship Sunday, 03/10/04 The Japan Under-19 team won a berth in next year's World Youth Championship by edging Qatar 5-3 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw following extra time in the quarterfinals of the AFC Youth Championship in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on October 3. Japan made it to the World Championship for the sixth time in a row and seventh time overall. The 2005 World Youth Championship starts on June 10 in the Nether -lands. Leading 4-3 in the shootout after all the kickers hit the target at Stadium Larkin, the venue where Japan won its first ever World Cup berth in 1997, Japan goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa blocked a kick from Qatar's fourth kicker Yousuf Hassan. Keisuke Funatani, Japan's fifth kicker, then calmly converted his kick to give Japan the win and a berth in the World Championship. Japan faced tough resistance from an aggressive Qatar team and struggled to find their attacking form. But the Japanese boys held firm and their goalkeeper Nishikawa made some fine saves to help Japan keep a clean sheet after 120 mi- nutes. Japan forward Robert Cullen of Jubilo Iwata had the ball in the net in the 47th minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Forward Sota Hirayama commented, "I thought we might need to play extra time as I knew our opponents were strong. Our defenders and goalkeeper worked really well." "Our players performed well," Japan Under-19 team coach Kiyoshi Okuma said of his squad's hard work. "We can enjoy the qualification now; from tomorrow, we will put our focus on our next target, the title of this tournament." Japan will play Korea Republic in the semifinals on October 6 in Kuala Lumpur. Korea Republic, who finished second in Group D, made it to the last four by beating Uzbekistan 2-1 after extra time. The top four finishers of the tournament qualify for next year's World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Teams: (Japanese team only) Japan---Shusaku Nishikawa, Yuzo Kobayashi, Tatsuya Masushima, Hiroki Mizumoto, Yojiro Takahagi (Hiroki Nakayama, 57th), Issei Takayanagi, Hokuto Nakamura, Takuya Kokeguchi, Shigo Hyodo (Keisuke Funatani, 88th), Robert Cullen (Takayuki Morimoto, 97th), Sota Hirayama. Coach, Kiyoshi Okuma -- 得罪了方丈還想跑！！ 喝！！看我們的「少林寺十八銅人」！！ --

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