Eom Ji-sung's winner v Japan seals Korea's fourth straight Asiad gold

📰 Eom Ji-sung's winner gave Korea a 1-0 victory over Japan and a fourth straight Asian Games men's football gold. 📌 Key points 🏆 Korea beat hosts Japan 1-0 in the final on 3 October. ⚽ Eom Ji-sung scored the winner in the 61st minute. 🥇 It is a first ever four-in-a-row and Korea's seventh gold overall. 🇰🇷 Korea have now beaten Japan in three successive Asiad finals. 🎖️ Eom finished joint top scorer and top assister with four goals and four assists. 📝 What happened 🏟️ The final was played on 3 October at Toyota Stadium, about 30km east of Nagoya. Korea had won all five games on the way, and faced a Japan side backed by a home crowd. ⚽ The breakthrough came on 61 minutes. Yang Min-hyeok won the ball on the right and crossed; goalkeeper Rui Araki could only push it into Eom's path, and the Swansea City forward wrong-footed a defender before finishing with his left foot. Korea created few chances but held on. 🎖️ Eom had opened the tournament with a hat-trick against Saudi Arabia and set up two goals in the semi-final against China. He ended with four goals and four assists – level at the top of the scoring chart and alone at the top for assists. 🥇 After Incheon 2014, Jakarta-Palembang 2018 and Hangzhou 2022, this is Korea's fourth successive title and seventh in total, pulling further clear of Iran on four. 📊 By the numbers • Final: 1-0 (Eom, 61') • Fourth straight, seventh overall gold • Eom: 4 goals, 4 assists • 20 players earn military service exemption 🔭 Why it matters Gold means military service exemption for 20 players, including Europe-based Eom and Stoke City's Bae Jun-ho – a major boost for their club careers. Coach Lee Min-sung, whose last tournament this was, leaves with a historic record. Japan, however, chose not to use over-age players with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in mind, so opinion on the performance is divided.