|
|
Asian Cup 2011: Yasuyuki Konno Delighted With Japan's Win Over South Korea
Japan's Yasuyuki Konno was over the moon with his side's Asian Cup win over South Korea.
26-Jan-2011 3:57:00 PM
By Stefan Coerts
Japan beat South Korea after spot-kicks in the semi-finals of the 2011 Asian Cup and Yasuyuki Konno, who scored the decisive penalty, was obviously over the moon with his side's hard fought victory.
"This is the greatest. If we had lost, it would've been the worst. This is probably the best birthday I've ever had in the 28 years of my life. I mean, I won the game with my penalty. I would much rather celebrate the victory than my birthday," said Konno to fifa.com.
"We were so preoccupied by protecting our one-goal lead that we pushed ourselves into our own half. South Korea were just launching it and we couldn't beat them in the air.
"We should have finished the game 2-1. The last goal really hurt. But the entire bench was behind us, trying to help us forget about it and telling us that the game was anything but over."
Japan will now take on Australia on Saturday in the final.
"This is the greatest. If we had lost, it would've been the worst. This is probably the best birthday I've ever had in the 28 years of my life. I mean, I won the game with my penalty. I would much rather celebrate the victory than my birthday," said Konno to fifa.com.
"We were so preoccupied by protecting our one-goal lead that we pushed ourselves into our own half. South Korea were just launching it and we couldn't beat them in the air.
"We should have finished the game 2-1. The last goal really hurt. But the entire bench was behind us, trying to help us forget about it and telling us that the game was anything but over."
Japan will now take on Australia on Saturday in the final.
Follow Goal.com on 
. Get the latest football news direct... Check out Goal.com's 
page; be part of the best football fan community in the world!
. Get the latest football news direct... Check out Goal.com's page; be part of the best football fan community in the world!Make Your Prediction Choose match
Qatar - South Korea
Qatar
South Korea
Prediction Submitted
Most Popular Predictions
-
Qatar 0-8 South Korea
- 24.32 %
-
Qatar 0-3 South Korea
- 10.81 %
-
Qatar 2-1 South Korea
- 10.81 %
Inside Goal.Com
-
Cartoon: Rio Ferdinand may have the last laugh
Goal.com cartoonist Omar Momani gives us his unique take on the football news of the day...
-
Euro 1996 Legends: Matthias Sammer, Germany
The heir to Franz Beckenbaur's throne, Sammer's excellent displays as sweeper for Germany led them to their third European title...
-
Euro 2012 Trivia: Which team has the fewest combined caps among them?
Which is the least experienced team in Euro 2012? Time to test your knowledge, mate
-
Vote for your Goal.com World Player of the Week
Have your say on who you think should win Goal.com's weekly honour
-
Euro 2012 a timely respite for depressed Spain
With 24 per cent unemployment, wage cuts and little hope for improvement in the short term, the continental competition will at least take people's minds off their sad situation