Belo Horizonte: A late VAR decision denied Japan a place in the 2019 Copa America quarter-finals after the East Asians played to a 1-1 draw with Ecuador in their final Group C match on Monday.
Japan had to defeat Ecuador to seal a place in the knockout stage and young sensation Takefusa Kubo had the ball in the net deep into added time but a dramatic winner was ruled out for offside after consulting VAR.
The draw enabled Paraguay to take the final quarter-final spot as one of the best two third-placed finishers.
Japan, however, will not be too despondent as their young squad has performed admirably in the Copa America, where they and Qatar played as invited teams.
Shoya Nakajima gave Japan the lead on 15 minutes with a goal validated by VAR, but 10 minutes from half time, Angel Mena equalised for Ecuador.
Japan substitute Daizen Maeda was put clean through late on but saw his effort saved by goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez.
The came the late drama as Kubo thought he had taken the Blue Samurai through, only for VAR to rule that the 18-year-old Real Madrid signing had been offside.
Japan had opened their campaign with a 4-0 defeat against Chile but rebounded to hold Uruguay 2-2 before coming agonisingly close to advancing to the knockout stage.
The quarter-finals will see Brazil play Paraguay, Venezuela taking on Argentina, Colombia facing Chile and Uruguay and Peru squaring off.
Photos: AFP
Source: the-afc.com