HANOI — Ivica Osim asked for Japan to be judged at the end of the first-round stage after the coach watched his team throw away the lead against Qatar in their Group B opener in Hanoi on Monday evening.
Naohiro Takahara opened the scoring on the hour mark with a clever finish in a match at My Dinh Stadium dominated by Japan, but Uruguayan-born forward Sebastian Quintana equalized with a deflected free-kick two minutes from the end of normal time as the game ended all-square.
"The late goal was a bit of a shock but we will have to wait and see how significant this result is at the end of the first round," said Osim, whose men also face United Arab Emirates and Vietnam in their group.