UAE's Ali Mabkhout (L) celebrates his goal with team mate Mohamed Ahmad Gharib during their Asian Cup quarter-final soccer match against Japan at the Stadium Australia in Sydney January 23, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Japan have not won the Asian Cup four times in the last six tournaments by panicking, though, and they continued to press forward after the goal with the neat inter-passing game that won them three from three in the group stage.

As they had in those games, however, Japan failed to convert possession into clear-cut chances, Takashi Inui wasting the best of them in the first half by directing his far post header straight at goalkeeper Majed Naser.

Japan had kept danger man Omar Abdulrahman quiet before halftime but the languid midfielder nearly helped his side double the lead four minutes after the break with a delightful flick into the box that Mabkhout just failed to control.

Inui had been replaced by Yoshinori Muto at halftime and the substitute had two chances to make a quick impression but flashed a shot wide before also failing to hit the target with a free header.

That set the template for the next half an hour of the match.