Jan 27 (Reuters) – Factbox ahead of Monday’s Asian Cup semi-final between Iran and Japan:
WHERE & WHEN:
Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain (capacity: 25,053)
Kickoff 6.00pm local time (1400 GMT)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)
Assistant referees: Matthew Cream, Anton Shchetinin (both Australia)
Fourth Official: Kim Dong-jin (South Korea)
Video assistant referee: Paolo Valeri (Italy)
IRAN
FIFA world ranking: 29
Ranking in Asia: 1
Previous Asian Cups: 13
Best performance: Champions (1968, 1972, 1976)
2015: Quarter-finals
Nickname: Team Melli
Coach: Carlos Queiroz
Top scorer at 2019 Asian Cup: Sardar Azmoun (4)
Players suspended: Mehdi Taremi
ROAD TO THE SEMI-FINAL
Group D (First)
Iran 5-0 Yemen
Iran 2-0 Vietnam
Iran 0-0 Iraq
Round of 16
Iran 2-0 Oman
Quarter-final
Iran 3-0 China
JAPAN
FIFA world ranking: 50
Ranking in Asia: 3
Previous Asian Cups: 8
Best performance: Champions (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011)
2015: Quarter-finals
Nickname: Samurai Blue
Coach: Hajime Moriyasu
Top scorer at 2019 Asian Cup: Ritsu Doan (2)
Players suspended: None
ROAD TO THE SEMI-FINAL
Group F (First)
Japan 3-2 Turkmenistan
Japan 1-0 Oman
Japan 2-1 Uzbekistan
Round of 16
Japan 1-0 Saudi Arabia
Quarter-final
Japan 1-0 Vietnam
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Christian Radnedge)
