Sydney: Maika Hamano scored the only goal as a formidable Japan battled past Australia to clinch a third Women’s Asian Cup title on Saturday in front of a record-breaking 74,357 fans in Sydney. The Tottenham star hit a stunning long-range strike in the 17th minute at Stadium Australia to break Australian hearts and add to Japan’s continental crowns from 2014 and 2018.
Those finals were also against Australia and ended in a 1-0 victory.
The edge-of-the-seat decider culminated a landmark tournament with more than 350,000 fans through the turnstiles, reinforcing the growth in popularity of the women’s game. This was approximately six times the previous tournament record set in 2010 in China, with the final setting a new attendance record for a single game in tournament history.
The Asian Cup doubled as qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil next year, with Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, North Korea and the Philippines all punching their tickets. Agencies
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