Brazilian-born winger Alessandro Santos converted a first-half penalty as Japan defeated Hong Kong 1-0 on Sunday to make it two wins out of two at the East Asian Football Championship.
Alessandro Santos of Japan celebrates after scoring a penalty during an East Asian Football Championship match against Hong Kong in Saitama.
Despite dominating the match at Saitama Stadium from start to finish, Santos' 37th-minute winner was all Japan had to show for its efforts and now needs to win a showdown with South Korea to claim the title of the inaugural competition in Yokohama on Wednesday.
Japan has six points after beating China 2-0 in its opener on Thursday and is level with South Korea, which beat China 1-0 earlier in the day, despite playing the final 30 minutes with 10 men. South Korea tops the table having scored more goals than Japan.