Japan beat Australia to lift Women’s Asian Cup title

Japan edges tournament hosts Australia 1-0 in ⁠the Women’s ⁠Asian Cup final to claim third title in four editions.Maika Hamano scored the only goal as a formidable Japan battled past Australia to clinch a third Women’s Asian Cup title 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 Australia" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="46083" data-entity-type="location">Stadium Australia to break Australian hearts and add to their continental crowns from 2014 and 2018.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Lin Yu-ting cleared to return to boxing after sex eligibility reviewlist 2 of 4World Cup security concerns grow in US as funding stallslist 3 of 4FIFA fines Israel FA citing racism and ‘multiple’ discrimination breacheslist 4 of 4Senegal and Morocco tied by religion and trade but divided by AFCON falloutend of listThose finals were also against Australia and ended 1-0.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 about six times as many as 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.The Japanese team, stacked with English-based players, was invincible in their run to the final, fluid across the park, and defending well, steamrolling everyone in front of them.While Australia proved a much tougher test, nothing could stop them as they accumulated 29 goals and conceded just one through their six tournament games to reinforce their status as Asia’s number one team.Japan named an unchanged lineup from their 4-1 semifinal thumping of South Korea.Australia made one change to the team that beat defending champions China 2-1 in the last four with Wini Heatley preferred in central defence to Clare Hunt.