NEWS

Japan qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, slated for July 17-27 in Marseille, France, after beating China 7-1 in the semifinals of the Asian qualifiers at Jumeirah Beach Park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Friday.

Shusei Yamauchi scored a hat trick and Hirofumi Oda struck twice to highlight Japan's semifinal victory.

Japan moved on to play hosts the United Arab Emirates in the final on Sunday but were unable to maintain their winning form and fell 4-3.

"It was a shame that we couldn't win the final game. I feel responsible for that as our players fought hard despite a tough tournament schedule," Beach Soccer Japan coach Takeshi Kawaharazuka commented.

"However, we were able to achieve our target of qualifying for the World Cup. From now on, we'd like to improve our game to move on to the next stage," he noted.

Yamauchi, who scored three times again in the final, won the tournament's Golden Boot award with 12 goals, while Shingo Terukina was named the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.

Japan started the tournament with an 8-2 win over the Philippines on Tuesday and went on to edge Iran 1-0 on penalties after a 1-1 draw on Thursday to top Group B and reach the semifinals.

UAE had advanced to the final with a 3-1 win over Iran after winning Group A with a 6-2 victory over Uzbekistan and a 5-0 win over China.

Japan, UAE and third-placed finishers Iran will represent Asia in this summer's FIFA tournament. Iran beat China in the third-place playoff on Sunday.