The match was decided by penalty shootout after both the sides failed to break the 1-1 deadlock in the regulation time. Uzbekistan goalkeeper Sarvar Karimov saved two penalties to lead his team to the first-ever title of the competition.

Karimov saved penalties from Tokuma Suzuki and Koki Sugimori while the effort from Kohya Kitagawa went wide. Earlier Japan’s Takuma Mizutani put the East Asian ahead in the 6th minute but Akobir Turaev levelled seven minutes after the break.

“In this type of situation you need mental strength. I am not going to blame my players, may be the goalkeeper was good and may be the qualities of the shots were not perfect,” Yoshitake told reporters after the match.

“We will continue to develop, we need to address few things before we go to the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2013 in the United Arab Emirates.

“For example on today’s match, the goal could be avoided. We stick to our passing football knowing that the crosses would not work against the lanky Uzbeks, so that is another area where we can work,” he said.

Japan took the lead and controlled the proceedings but failure to kill off the game cost them dear. “Yes, it’s a team game and all of us should bear the blame,” he concluded.