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UAE enter semis

UAE defeated North Korea 9-8 in a penalty shootout and entered the football semifinals of Asian Games on Friday. UAE will face South Korea for a place in the final.

After a 0-0 draw, a shootout was needed to decide a winner in the UAE-North Korea match. UAE scored from all the nine shots from the spot while the Koreans missed the last one.

Ri Chol-Myong had his penalty kick saved by Ali Housani in the UAE goal before Mohamed Al Shehhi tucked away his spotkick to send the side into the semifinals.

Meanwhile Keigi Higashi’s 45^th-minute goal gave Japan a 1-0 win over Thailand and a spot in the semifinals.

The 20-year-old Higashi struck just before half-time, slotting the ball home from close range and past goalkeeper Samuel Cunningham.

Japan, top scorers in the tournament with 14 goals, will now face former champions Iran, who defeated Oman 1-0, in the last four.

“Thailand controlled the ball well, but we controlled the match,” said Japan coach Takashi Sekizuka.

“It was a tough match and we were lucky to score in the first half and we were able to defend in the second.”

Thailand, coached by former England skipper Bryan Robson, created most of the pressure in the quarter-final clash but were unable to find the finishing touch.

“It’s unfortunate. We were the better team over the 90 minutes,” said former Manchester United captain Robson.

“We passed the ball well and got into good positions, but couldn’t convert any of our chances.”

South Korea were forced to extra-time before seeing off 10-man Uzbekistan 3-1 in their quarter-final and will now tackle the UAE for a place in the gold medal match.

Hong Jeong-Ho put South Korea in front after just two minutes, but Sherzodbek Karimov pounced on a mistake by left-back Shin Kwang-Hoon in the 71^st minute to equalise.

Uzbekistan played the last 30 minutes of the game with 10 men after star striker Ivan Nagaev was sent-off for a second bookable offence.

Monaco’s Park Chu-Young, with his third goal of the tournament, restored his team’s advantage in the second minute of extra-time with a smart twist and drive which goalkeeper Timur Juraev allowed to squeeze beneath his body.

Kim Bo-Kyung added the third in the 101^st minute for an attack-minded South Korean team who peppered the target with 22 shots in the game. – With inputs from agencies

Semifinals

Japan v Iran

UAE v South Korea