Japan and Iran clinched the last two tickets in play for the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup of Nations on Wednesday and will face each other on Saturday for a place in the last four.

The Iranians, although dominating against the Syria of Argentinian coach Hector Cuper, only qualified on penalties (5-3) in Doha, the two countries having separated with a draw (1-1) at the end of regulation time and overtime. FC Porto striker Mehdi Taremi opened the scoring for Iran with a penalty, whistled for a foul on himself by Syrian defender Aiham Ousou (1-0, 34th).

But against the run of play Syria equalized, also from the penalty spot, awarded for a foul by Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand on Pablo Sabbag and transformed by captain Omar Maher Khribinle (1-1, 64th). Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi was sent off for a second yellow card (90 1) and will miss at least the quarter-final. He appeared in tears at the end of the meeting.

Earlier in the day, four-time winners Japan defeated Bahrain 3-1 (1-0 at halftime). The Blue Samurai of coach Hajime Moriyasu led 2-0 in the 49th minute and seemed to be heading towards a quiet qualification, but an own goal from goalkeeper Zion Suzuki in the 64th moment reignited the suspense for a while, until Ayase Ueda hits the nail on the head in the 72nd minute. The Feyernoord Rotterdam striker has four goals since the start of the competition, in second place in the ranking of the best scorers, tied with the Qatari striker Akram Afif and two lengths behind the Iraqi Ayman Hussein, whose selection was eliminated in the round of 16.

“It is important not to suffer a drop in our concentration during the entire 90 minutes,” warned Japanese captain Wataru Endo, as his team conceded at least one goal in the four matches played since the start of the season. competition.

The quarter-final program:

Friday February 2

(12:30 p.m.) Tajikistan – Jordan

(4:30 p.m.) Australia – South Korea

Saturday February 3

(12h30) Iranian – Japanese

(4:30 p.m.) Qatar – Uzbekistan

The semi-finals will take place on February 6 and 7, with the final scheduled for February 10.