In the heat of the action in Doha, Qatar, Jocelyn Lam brings us the latest report on the Blue Samurai's spirited last-16 match at the Asian Cup on Wednesday (31), despite the sexual abuse scandal involving Japanese international Junya Ito. They beat Bahrain 3-1 with the help of Yasutoshi Don, Kanei Kubo, and Erika Ueda to advance to the last 8.
Before the match, the Japanese media broke the story that Junya Ito had gotten together with several women and rode in a cab together after a warm-up match against Peru last June. The women, unaware that their destination was a hotel, were sexually assaulted while intoxicated. One of the women, Miss A, found him on top of her after she sobered up.Miss A disclosed that her lawyer demanded an apology from him, but he insisted that the relationship was consensual and offered monetary compensation to keep it a secret.Miss A, however, felt that Mr. Ito was unrepentant, and filed a criminal complaint with another victim, Miss B. The Japanese police have already intervened in the investigation.
Although Junya Ito was relegated to the bench, Japan's Keido Nakamura and Yasutoshi Don joined forces up front to powerfully support Ezekiel Tada on the arrow. Against a weakened Bahrain, the Japanese were in control of the game, with Yasutoshi Don scoring in the 31st minute when Sung-Ya Per Kumar's long-range shot from the right post bounced off the post. However, midfielder Renyo was withdrawn due to injury and Hidemasa Morita came on as a substitute, giving Japan a one-goal lead at halftime.
