NEWS

The Nadeshiko Japan women's team clinched the East Asian Championship with a comfortable 3-0 win over China in their third and final match on Sunday at Yongchuan Stadium in Chongqing, China.

Forward Shinobu Ohno struck twice and set up another for Yuki Nagasato as Japan won their third straight match in the four-nation tournament.

DPR Korea finished second on goal difference over China after both finished with 1-1-1 win-draw-loss records. Korea Republic (0-0-3) were fourth.

A draw would have been enough for the Nadeshiko to win the tournament, but the Ladies in Blue played aggressively from the outset, with Nagasato, Ohno and Homare Sawa hitting early shots from mid-range.

Their attacking efforts paid off in the 19th minute. Nagasato latched on to a long feed on the right flank and went deep to the byline before returning the ball to Ohno. The Nippon TV Beleza attacker stole into the box to volley home the opener.

China, who needed to beat Japan to win the tournament, attempted to attack through forwards Han Duan and Xu Yuan. In the 36th minute, the hosts came close to finding the net when Xu headed a Xie Caixia cross, but the effort sailed wide.

Japan went on to dominate the game with good mobility and good focus.

Nagasato forced China goalkeeper Zhang Yanru into punching a shot away in the 40th minute, and the Japanese women widened their lead two minutes later when Ohno rushed in to make the final touch after an initial effort from Sawa.

Six minutes after the break, Nagasato threatened the Chinese goal again with a mid-range effort before getting herself on the scoresheet three minutes later when her header put Japan 3-0 up.

In the 60th minute, Ohno set up Eriko Arakawa, but her volley went wide, and in the 81st minute Japan substitute midfielder Kozue Ando hit the bar.

"I cannot find any other word but wonderful," said Nadeshiko Japan coach Norio Sasaki. "Our players showed over the 90 minutes exactly what we've been trying to do. They did very well."

Sasaki said that the first-ever title for the Japanese women's side came as a result of a lot of hard work from many people over a long period of time, particularly those involved in the Nadeshiko League.

Sasaki, who took the helm last month, added: "In the run-up to the Olympics, we've got this good result and we've learned what we can do and what we cannot do. We'd like to work on this ahead of the Olympics."

Sawa was named the MVP in the women's tournament.

In the overall standings for the East Asian Championship (men's and women's combined), Japan finished top with 14 points, followed by China (7), DPR Korea (6) and Korea Republic (5).

Teams:
Japan—Nozomi Yamago, Yukari Kinga, Hiromi Ikeda, Azusa Iwashimizu, Miyuki Yanagita, Mizuho Sakaguchi, Homare Sawa, Shinobu Ohno (Karina Maruyama, 79th), Aya Miyama, Eriko Arakawa (Kozue Ando, 67th), Yuki Nagasato (Rumi Utsugi, 88th). Coach, Norio Sasaki

China—Zhang Yanru, Yuan Fan (Jiang Shuai, 69th), Li Jie, Zhang Ying, Zhou Gaoping, Xie Caixia, Zhang Na (Zhang Tong, ht), Yu Weimin (Guo Yue, ht), Liu Yali, Han Duan, Xu Yuan.
Coach, Elisabeth Loisel

Goals—Shinobu Ohno (19th min., 43rd min.) and Yuki Nagasato (55th min.) for Japan

Cautions—Xie Caixia (China), Zhang Tong (China)

Expulsions—None

Attendance—Not announced

Referee—Kamnueng Pannipar (Thailand)