SHENZHEN, 22 Aug. - A superb goal from striker Akito KAWAMOTO (JPN) and a penalty from Kazuya YAMAMURA (JPN) gave Japan to 2-0 win against Great Britain to win the 2011 Universiade men's football gold medal after Brazil had beaten Russia by the same score to win bronze at Shenzhen Stadium on Monday.

JPN v GBR - gold medal match

KAWAMOTO's first-half goal follows on from match-winning substitute performances in the quarterfinal against China and semifinal against Russia. He started in the final against Britain and caused havoc from the first whistle.

In a lively start, Japan and Britain both had chances but Japan slowly took control of the game.
Mark ANDERSON (GBR) had a free header early from a cross that bounced in the area, but it flew just past Takuya MASUDA's (JPN) left post with ANDERSON thinking he maybe should have done better. ANDERSON also beat a defender in the box and was in on goal, but his attempted chip from a tight angle was beaten away by MASUDA.

Enter KAWAMOTO in the 29th minute. His run found space between tall central defenders Gary WARREN (GBR) and Kieran MURPHY (GBR) as a ball was floated into the area. It initially appeared harmless enough but KAWAMOTO, with his back to goal, had noticed goalkeeper Nicholas JUPP (GBR) was off his line and lobbed a delightful back header over JUPP for 1-0 lead.

The crisp Japan passing game and pace of KAWAMOTO, Nobuyuki SHIINA and Mitsunari MUSAKA began to dominate long periods of the match and the Japan back four remained rock solid as Britain tried to find lone striker Craig MOSES (GBR) up front.

After 13 minutes of the second half, Yosuke KAWAI (JPN) put the overlapping Yuichi MARUYAMA (JPN) into space in the box after a move down the left and Scott MCCUBBIN's (GBR) mistimed challenge brought MARUYAMA down. Referee ZHAO Liang (CHN) pointed to the spot and YAMAMURA duly sent JUPP the wrong way to make it 2-0.

Britain's best chance in the second half came when Daniel SLEATH's (GBR) awkward left foot volley shaved MASUDA's left post but the outstanding KAWAMOTO then almost capped a huge tournament when he beat two defenders on the edge of the box and unleashed a tremendous shot which rocketed back off JUPP's right post.

The gold medal is the fifth in Universiade men's football for Japan after previous wins in 1995,2001, 2003 and 2005. For Britain, the silver medal surpasses its previous best of bronze in 1991.

RUS v BRA - bronze medal match

Second half goals from Thiago FLORENCIO (BRA) and Jefersom BERGER (BRA) gave Brazil a 2-0 win against 10-man Russia at Shenzhen Stadium to bag the bronze for the boys from Brazil.

The two sides looked tired in the first half and were locked at 0-0 at the break and the match needed a spark.

It came in the 52nd minute when FLORENCIO latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the area and nailed it to the right of Russia goalkeeper Andrei ZAITCEV to give Brazil a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, striker Pavel IGNATOVICH (RUS) was sent off after tangling with Brazil's Ronaldo SILVA off the ball. SILVA was yellow carded for his part in the confrontation, but IGNATOVICH had struck out in retaliation and the Russian saw red.

The sending-off actually inspired Russia to push forward, and Igor GORBATENKO threatened with two long range drives while Alexandr KOZHEVNIKOV threatened down the right, but then BERGER put the match beyond doubt.

Coming from the bench, BERGER showed he had lost none of his hunger for goals by almost immediately beating the Russia offside trap and sliding home a first time shot from 15 metres past the advancing ZAITCEV.

It was BERGER's seventh of the tournament. FLORENCIO's earlier goal meant he had become just the second Brazil player to score in Shenzhen after BERGER.

Brazil's bronze medal matches it previous best result in Universiade competition when it came third in 1999 in Mallorca, Spain.

KOR v URU - 5th-6th place

Korea beat Uruguay 3-0 on penalties at Shenzhen Baoan Stadium after a scoreless 90 minutes. Three straight spot kick misses from Guzman VIDAL (URU), Gabriel BACETTI (URU) and Gustavo INCIARTE (URU) left Korea with fifth place in the tournament.

ITA v CHN - 7th-8th place

China defeated Italy 1-0 at Gymnasium of Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology. A 35th minute goal from HAN Guanghui was enough for China to claim seventh spot in the tournament.

CAN v COL - 9th-10th place

A late goal from substitute Adrian PENA (CAN) gave Canada a 1-0 win over Colombia at Stadium of Shenzhen Sport School after Colombia midfielder Julian VANEGAS ECHEVERRI was sent off midway through the second half for a second yellow card. PENA's winner came in the 87th minute, just three minutes after he left the bench.

MAS v CZE - 11th-12th place

Czech Republic crushed Malaysia 5-0 at Shenzhen Baoan Xixiang Sports Centerto claim 11th place with a double from Zdenek VOLEK (CZE) and goals from Michal RENDLA (CZE), Jiri SCHUBERT (CZE) and Michal SCHON (CZE) doing the damage.

THA v UKR - 13th-14th place

Thailand beat reigning champion Ukraine 6-5 on penalties after the side finished 1-1 at fulltime in Shenzhen University Athletic Field. Sarawut MASUK thought he had scored the winner for Thailand in the 91st minute, but Sergei MALYI equalised 60 seconds later for Ukraine to send the match to spot kicks. MALYI was also sent off in injury time for a second yellow card. In the shootout, Thailand converted six straight penalties before Bogdan VARCHENKO missed for Ukraine to hand Thailand 13th place.

NAM v GHA - 15th-16th place

Ghana beat Namibia 2-0 at Stadium of Sports Center of Shenzhen University City with first half goals from captain Mohammed BUKARI and James ABBAN enough to give Ghana 15th place and relegate Namibia to 16th.