Southampton defender Maya Yoshida reaches Asian Cup final

A brace from Yuya Osako was enough to see the Blue Samurai reach the last stage of the tournament.

Saints defender Yoshida captained his side in the comfortable victory that’s given Japan a chance to win their fifth Asian Cup, which will extend their record breaking tally of four triumphs.

The Blue Samurai took the lead in the 56th minute after Osako took advantage of poor defending to break the deadlock.

He then doubled his side’s advantage from the penalty spot when VAR was used to determine whether the Iran player had handballed it or not.

It ruled in Japan’s favour and Osaka sent Alireza Beiranvand the wrong way to strengthen their position in the match.

Genki Haraguchi completed the second half thrashing when he found the back of the net in the 91st minute to add his team’s third and send them into the final.

Carlos Queiroz’s Iran were strongly tipped as the pre-tournament favourites, but Yoshida’s team have proven to be efficient at grinding out results when they need them.

It’s yet to be decided who Saints’ defender will come up against in Friday’s final as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates won’t play each other until tomorrow afternoon.