NEWS

Shinji Okazaki scored a hat trick as Japan outplayed Hong Kong 6-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier on Thursday night at Outsourcing Stadium Nihondaira in Shizuoka.

Japan improved their points total to six with their second win in Group A. They are tied on points at the top of the table with Bahrain, but remain in second place due to the two teams’ head-to-head record. Yemen is third with three points, while Hong Kong remain bottom with no points.
Japan displayed fast-paced attacking football from the start of the game. Keiji Tamada first came close in the 12th minute with a close-range attempt and Makoto Hasebe hit the post from mid-range in the 16th minute.
The opener came two minutes later for Japan. Shimizu forward Okazaki latched on to a fine through ball from Hasebe and blasted home from the right with a powerful first-time shot.
In the 29th minute, Okazaki also hit the post, but full-back Yuto Nagatomo collected the rebound, beat a Hong Kong defender and fired home from the left side of the box.
The three-time Asian champions could have widened the lead in the 36th minute, but Shunsuke Nakamura’s 25-meter free-kick also hit the woodwork.
Hong Kong featured only three players from their successful East Asian Championship qualifiers last month.
The visitors fought hard in defense and created a half-chance in the 23rd minute when right-back Sham Kwok Fai fed the unguarded Chan Siu Ki up front. But the South China forward failed to control the ball and the opportunity was lost.
Japan’s domination continued and they went further ahead six minutes after the break when Nakazawa headed home a Yoshito Okubo cross following a corner.
Okazaki came close again in the 57th minute with a close-range attempt. The ball hit Hong Kong goalkeeper Zhang Chunhui and rolled towards the goal, but defender Lee Chi Ho was able to clear the ball off the line.
Japan continued to threaten the Hong Kong goal and Tulio made it 4-0 by giving a last nudge to a Nakamura corner in the 67th minute.
Local hero Okazaki headed home a Yuhei Tokunaga cross in the 75th minute before completing a hat trick and the scoring for Japan two minutes later with a fine volley off a Hisato Sato rebound.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada said, “I’m satisfied that our players fought for 90 minutes and functioned as a team. This was a game we had to win. Our players approached this game with the attitude of not only winning, but also improving certain aspects of their game.”
Okada explained that his side had moved into a new preparation stage in the run-up to next year’s World Cup.
“We broke them down in good ways and scored six goals,” the coach stated. “It would have been much nicer if we could have added one or two more from the chances we created. I may be asking too much, but I hope they can develop their game further in the eight months leading up to the World Cup.”
As part of their World Cup preparations, Japan will play Scotland on Saturday in Yokohama and Togo on Wednesday in Miyagi.
After using two uncapped players on Thursday – Oita Trinita goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa and FC Tokyo full-back Yuhei Tokunaga, who was a 60th-minute substitute – Okada said he would use players who hadn’t had so many playing opportunities, as well as new players in Saturday’s game.
“They are important players who form the backbone of our squad. I would like to play them,” Okada said.
“It might have been hard for them to play an official game after having only trained a couple of times, but after watching today’s game, I think they have an image [of how to play]. I’m sure they have high motivation for the game,” the 53-year-old coach stated.
Okazaki commented, “I was happy when I completed my hat trick. It’s like a bonus. I’d like to continue working hard, and I think we are improving our combination work more and more.”
“It was a good game for Japan,” Hong Kong coach Kim Pan Gon said, “Congratulations for Japan and their win. They played with high quality.”
The Korean coach added: “We have gained good experience and we need to improve a lot of things. So, I think for the Hong Kong national team, this is a good time for us to think how we should improve.”

Teams:
Japan—Shusaku Nishikawa, Yuichi Komano (Yuhei Tokunaga, 60th), Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yuji Nakazawa, Yuto Nagatomo, Yasuhito Endo, Shunsuke Nakamura, Makoto Hasebe, Keiji Tamada (Daisuke Matsui, 75th), Yoshito Okubo (Hisato Sato, 75th), Shinji Okazaki. Coach, Takeshi Okada
Hong Kong—Zhang Chunhui, Lee Chi-Ho, Deng Jinghuang, Cristiano Cordeiro, Sham Kwok-Fai (Lee Wai-Lun, 53rd), Lo Kwan-Yee, Lam Ka-Wai (Lee Wai-Lim, 69th), Lee Hong-Lim, Bai He, Chan Siu-Ki, Chao Pengfei (Gao Wen, ht). Coach, Kim Pan Gon
Goals—Shinji Okazaki (18, 75, 78), Yuto Nagatomo (29), Yuji Nakazawa (51), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (67) for Japan
Cautions—Cristiano Cordeiro (Hong Kong)
Expulsions—None
Attendance—16,028
Referee—Mohsen Torky (Iran)