Japan men's football team striker Ayase Ueda relished his first career title Sunday after 10-man Feyenoord captured the Dutch Cup with a 1-0 victory over NEC Nijmegen.
The 25-year-old came off the bench in the 75th minute of the final against an NEC side featuring Japanese attackers Koki Ogawa and Kodai Sano.
Brazilian Igor Paixao netted the winner in the 59th minute at Rotterdam's De Kuip stadium, where the home side went down a man after winger Yankuba Minteh's second yellow card in the 72nd minute.
Adding further drama, the match was halted twice due to fireworks in the stands, with the second stoppage coming after a banner caught alight, causing a large amount of smoke inside the stadium.
Feyenoord's win gave them their first Dutch Cup since 2018, while NEC have yet to lift the trophy.
"It's my first title as a professional. I'm not sure how much I contributed, but it's a feeling I've never felt before," said Ueda, who joined Feyenoord from Belgium's Cercle Brugge last summer.
The former Kashima Antlers attacker was in the thick of the action after entering the match but missed a chance to put the Rotterdam club further ahead.
"It was a chance to show my worth to the club. I need to score in those situations," he said.
Ogawa, who was called up to the Samurai Blue squad for last month's Asian World Cup qualifiers, lamented falling short of the title after making big contributions throughout NEC's cup campaign.
"I have to make a game-winning impact by scoring in matches like this," the 26-year-old said.
Elsewhere in Europe, Takumi Minamino scored his eighth goal of the French Ligue 1 campaign in Monaco's 2-0 win away to Brest.
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