Japan defeated South Korea 1-0 to successfully defend his Eaff E-1 football championship title in the Yongin Mireu Stadium in Yongin, South Korea on Tuesday.
The ruling champions started strongly, with Ryo Germain the net in the eighth minute. Germain, who had an impressive four goals in just 22 minutes during the opening match of Japan against Hong Kong, turned out to be the difference maker again.
Despite the rest a goal down, South Korea came forward with renewed force in the second half and pressed hard on an equalizer. The Taegeuk Warriors, however, were consistently thwarted by the resilient Japanese defense, so that they land only one of their eight shots on goal.
In the end, Germain’s early strike caused the victory, allowing Japan to lift the trophy again.
Both teams were unbeaten before the last round after winning the first two games of the campaign.
Japan started the campaign with a 6-1 victory over Hong Kong and followed it with a 2-0 win against China.
In the meantime, Korea held clean sheets in the first two victories, with margins of 3-0 and 2-0, respectively against China and Hong Kong.
