Just 13 minutes into the game, Hanyu Naotake, No 7 of Japan received a pass and suddenly kicked the ball into the net at the far end of the restricted area. Then Japan began to play a control game while Ukraine made many attempts at the goal and missed a sure header in the 85th minute. The score was kept at 1-0 until the end of the match.

Ukraine got the silver while South Korea got the bronze.

Head coach of Japan Masahiro Inui said that their team attaches importance to the cooperation among the players. He sang high praises of the performance of both team. “It’s a hard match for us and we won in the end.”

Yakvbovsky Ihor, head coach of Ukraine, was disappointed at the loss, saying that the too early goal by Japan upset his players, who were unable to play steadily. ”But I appreciate the performance of the players though they made some mistakes. It’s really a wonderful match,” He said.

(U21net 08/31/2001)