SEOUL — Japan claimed the East Asian Cup for the first time Sunday with a 2-1 win for the men's team over host South Korea, crushing China's hopes of taking home some silverware. Yoichiro Kakitani grabbed a brace for the champion, including the vital clincher in injury time, which gave Japan seven points at the end of the tournament, two ahead of China. Earlier, China had defeated Australia 4-3 but had to wait for the final tournament game to know whether it had won overall. South Korea and China have each won two East Asian Cups, while Japan has been the runner-up three times. Liverpool blanks Thailand Liverpool completed its Asian Tour on a high note with a 3-0 victory over the Thailand at the Rajamangala National Stadium Sunday. The victory gave the Premier League club a hat trick of wins in its preseason tour of the region, after 2-0 wins against Indonesia and Melbourne. Playing in a steady drizzle, Liverpool opened the scoring through Coutinho in the 16th minute. Three minutes into the second half, the visitors scored again when Coutinho turned provider and set up Iago Apas for the team's second. Skipper Steven Gerrard added the third in the 58th. Liverpool drew 1-1 against Thailand on its most recent previous visit in 2009. Benzema fires Real past PSG Carlo Ancelotti enjoyed a slice of enjoyment against his former club as Real Madrid edged Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in a pre-season friendly played at Gothenburg Saturday. The Italian coach, who led PSG to its first French title since 1994 last season before controversially leaving for the Spanish capital, saw his side control the match on its way to a morale boosting win. Former Lyon striker and French international Karim Benzema did the damage on 23 minutes after picking up a pass from German international Mesut Ozil and stroking the purest of shots past PSG ‘keeper Salvatore Sirigu and into the bottom right hand corner. Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo was a lively presence for Real and forced several fine saves from Sirigu as well as setting up a chance for Angel Di Maria on 52 minutes but the Italian ‘keeper tipped the shot behind for a corner. Uruguayan signing Edison Cavani who arrived at PSG from Napoli recently was not included in the squad. — Agencies
