Japan wins bronze in AFC Youth Championship Saturday, 09/10/04 The Japan Under-19 team edged their Syrian counterparts 4-3 in a penalty shootout on October 9 after battling to a 1-1 draw to secure the bronze medal in the AFC Youth Championship in Kuala Lumpur. Korea Republic clinched the title with a 2-0 win over China in the final later the same day. With the shootout tied at 3-3 at Cheras Stadium, Japan goalkeeper Kenya Matsui beat out a spot kick from Syria's fifth kicker Meaataz Kailouni. Matsui had already saved Syria's second kick by Aataf Janyat. Japan's fifth kicker Robert Cullen then converted his shot off the underside of the crossbar. It was Japan's third consecutive shootout in the tournament after similar showdowns against Qatar in the quarterfinals and Korea Republic in the semi- finals. Japan went ahead in the 33rd minute when midfielder Keisuke Funatani, unguarded after dashing into the area, slotted home a Takayuki Morimoto pass. Seven minutes later, however, Japan defender Tatsuya Masushima turned a clear- ance attempt from a long ball by a Syrian defender into his own net to level the scores. After both teams failed to find the net again, the match went to a penalty shootout. "In the first half, we played the game in the way we'd wanted to, but then we let our opponents come into the game through our own mistake," said Japan Under-19 team coach Kiyoshi Okuma. "We need to improve our game ahead of next June's World Youth Championship." By finishing in the top four in the AFC tournament, Japan secured a berth in the World Championship in the Netherlands from June 10 next year. Korea Repub- lic, China and Syria will also take part. Teams: (Japanese team only) Japan---Kenya Matsui, Tomokazu Nagira, Tatsuya Masushima, Hiroki Mizumoto, Keisuke Funayama (Hiroki Nakayama, 89th), Yuzo Kobayashi (Shinichi Terada, 84th), Hokuto Nakamura, Takuya Kokeguchi, Shingo Hyodo, Sota Hirayama, Takayuki Morimoto (Robert Cullen, 73rd). 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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