Leeds ace Ao Tanaka lifts bizarre trophy previously won by Newcastle and Spurs
Ao Tanaka has helped Japan to win a trophy during this extended autumn international break, the Leeds United midfielder featuring in Monday’s Kirin Cup final.
The 28-year-old came off the bench in the 64th minute with his side locked at 1-1 against New Zealand in Tokyo. Tanaka did not play a direct role in the 2-1 winner from Eintracht Frankfurt’s Ritsu Dean but walks away with a winners’ medal.
The Kirin Cup is an annual tournament organised by a Japanese beer and beverage company, the first edition - the ‘Japan Cup’ in 1978 - initially mixing the Japan national team, and other invited countries, with elite global club teams.
The trophy, in its various iterations, was won by the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough and Newcastle United before the rebrand to a solely international tournament, that took place across May and/or June, from 1992.
The new two-game tournament was first competed between three teams, and featured the likes of Wales (1992) and Scotland (1995 and winners in 2006). Six former Premier League referees, including current ProRef chief Howard Webb, officiated matches across its history.
Previous winners of the trophy include Eric Cantona, Didier Deschamps, Kevin Keegan, Chris Waddle, David Ginola and Gabriel Batistuta.
After a five-year pause, the competition evolved again in 2016, this time into a four-team tournament with single semi-finals and final, plus a third-place play-off. It is now held every four years.
Despite it being a domestic tournament, Monday saw Japan win the trophy for the first time since sharing the honour with Czechia and Peru in 2011 - three editions ago. This is the first time the Samurai Blue have outright won the prize since 2009, four editions ago.
Tanaka has featured in all four of Japan’s games this break, starting and lasting 79 minutes in the semi-final win over Ecuador last Thursday.
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