Japan booked their place at the Qatar World Cup with a game to spare following a dramatic victory in Australia.
Two last-gasp goals from substitute Kaoru Mitoma in Sydney sparked wild celebrations from the visitors, who would end up second in their qualifying group behind Saudi Arabia. The Japanese have now reached seven World Cup finals in a row since 1998.
“I knew it was going to be a close match so when I was on the bench all I was thinking was, when I got on the field of play I just had to do my job and score a goal,” said Mitoma after the match.
“I feel really happy for the players and people back in Japan, and everyone who is a Japanese fan.”
In Qatar, Japan were drawn in Group E alongside Spain, Costa Rica and Germany.
Japan's fixtures in Qatar
November 23 Germany v Japan – Khalifa International Stadium (5pm)
November 27 Japan v Costa Rica – Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium (2pm)
December 1 Japan v Spain – Khalifa International Stadium (11pm)
Qualifying results
Second round (Group F)
September 10, 2019 Myanmar 0 Japan 2 (Nakajima 16', Minamino 26')
October 10, 2019 Japan 6 (Minamino 22', Yoshida 29', Nagatomo 33', Nagai 40', Endo 57', Kamada 82') Mongolia 0
October 15, 2019 Tajikstan 0 Japan 3 (Minamino 53', 55', Asano 82')
November 14, 2019 Kyrgyzstan 0 Japan 2 (Minamino pen 41', Haraguchi 54')
March 30, 2021 Mongolia 0 Japan 14 (Minamino 13', Osako 23', 55', 90+2', Kamada 26', Morita 33', Tuya og 39', Inagaki 68', 90+3', Ito 73', 79', Furuhashi 78', 87', Asano 90+1')
May 28, 2021 Japan 10 Minamino 8', 66', Osako 22', pen 30', 36', 49', 88', Morita 57', Kamada 84', Itakura 90+1') Myanmar 0
June 7, 2021 Japan 4 (Furuhashi 6', Minamino 40', Hashimoto 51', Kawabe 71') Tajikstan 1
June 15, 2021 Japan 5 (Onaiwu pen 27', 31', 33', Sasaki 72', Asano 77') Kyrgyzstan 1 (Murzaev pen 45+2')
Third round (Group B)
September 2, 2021 Japan 0 Oman 1 (Al-Sabhi 88')
September 7, 2021 China 0 Japan 1 (Osako 40')
October 7, 2021 Saudi Arabia 1 (Al-Buraikan 71') Japan 0
October 12, 2021 Japan 2 (Tanaka 8', Behich og 85') Australia 1 (Hrustic 70')
November 11, 2021 Vietnam 0 Japan 1 (Ito 17')
November 16, 2021 Oman 0 Japan 1 (Ito 81')
January 27, 2022 Japan 2 (Osako pen 13', Ito 61') China 0
February 1, 2022 Japan 2 (Minamino 32', Ito 50') Saudi Arabia 0
March 24, 2022 Australia 0 Japan 2 (Mitoma 89', 90+4')
March 29, 2022 Japan 1 (Yoshida 55') Vietnam 1 (Nguynn Thanh Bình 19')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
You may remember …
Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.
Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.
Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.
Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.
Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.
Superpower%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESean%20Penn%2C%20Aaron%20Kaufman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
%3Cp%3EAverage%20amount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20at%20DIC%20factory%20every%20month%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EApproximately%20106%2C000%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAmount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20from%201%20litre%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%20%3Cstrong%3E920ml%20(92%25)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETime%20required%20for%20one%20full%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%20used%20cooking%20oil%20to%20biofuel%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EOne%20day%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EEnergy%20requirements%20for%20one%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%201%2C000%20litres%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%96%AA%20Electricity%20-%201.1904%20units%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Water-%2031%20litres%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Diesel%20%E2%80%93%2026.275%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS
BMW X7 xDrive 50i
Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed Steptronic transmission
Power: 462hp
Torque: 650Nm
Price: Dh600,000
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
More on Quran memorisation:
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETuhoon%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EYear%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFares%20Ghandour%2C%20Dr%20Naif%20Almutawa%2C%20Aymane%20Sennoussi%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Ehealth%20care%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E15%20employees%2C%20%24250%2C000%20in%20revenue%0D%3Cbr%3EI%3Cstrong%3Envestment%20stage%3A%20s%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWamda%20Capital%2C%20Nuwa%20Capital%2C%20angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch
