NEWS

Gearing up for next week’s World Cup qualifier in Qatar, Japan cruised to a 3-1 victory over Syria in a Kirin Challenge Cup friendly match on Thursday night at Home Stadium in Kobe.

Yuto Nagatomo, Keiji Tamada and Yoshito Okubo scored for the hosts.
“I wanted to test various parts of our game ahead of the Qatar game today,” Japan coach Takeshi Okada said. “And our players showed the good side of their game from the start.”
Before going into Thursday’s friendly, Okada was forced to make a number of changes to his side. Yokokhama F. Marinos defender Yuji Nakazawa and Nagoya Grampus goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki withdrew from the squad due to injury, Gamba Osaka’s players were unavailable due to their involvement in the AFC Champions League final, and Japan’s Europe-based players had club games and won’t join the squad until next week.
Japan, paced by Kawasaki Frontale midfielder Kengo Nakamura, went on the attack from the start and found themselves a goal up just three minutes into the game when left back Nagatomo dribbled up the left flank, cut inside and buried the ball from the edge of the box.
The early goal helped the hosts dictate the pace of play, and Tamada volleyed in a Nakamura cross in the 26th minute to double Japan’s lead.
Japan continued to attack after the break, and Vissel Kobe forward Okubo made it 3-0 in the 62nd minute with a shot that deflected in off Abd Alkader Dakka.
The hosts created more chances, but Syria cut the deficit to 3-1 in the 78th minute with a penalty by Mohamad Alzino after a foul by substitute Shinji Kagawa.
“Japan’s attack developed as we had expected,” Syria coach Fajer Ebrahim stated. “But as we didn’t have enough time to prepare for this game after arriving here, we couldn’t do much about it.”
Okada commented: “We gave up a goal on a penalty following a counterattack, so that’s something we have to work on. But our players did well and fought hard for the victory. However, that doesn’t offer us any guarantees in the game against Qatar and we have to remember that.”
Japan will meet Qatar in Doha on Wednesday in their third World Cup final-round qualifier.

Teams:
Japan—Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Shuhei Terada (Yasuyuki Konno, ht), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Kazumichi Takagi, 56th), Yuki Abe, Yuto Nagatomo, Atsuto Uchida (Yuichi Komano, 78th), Kengo Nakamura, Keiji Tamada (Hisato Sato, ht), Yoshito Okubo (Seiichiro Maki, 68th), Tatsuya Tanaka (Shinji Kagawa, ht), Shinji Okazaki. Coach, Takeshi Okada
Syria—Mosab Balhous (Mhd Redwan Alazhar, 68th), Aattef Jenniat (Abdul Fatah Alagha, 81st), Abd Alkader Dakka,Ali Dyab, Feras Ismail (Mahmoud Alamna, 51st), Wael Ayan, Adel Abdullah, Ziad Chabo (Mohamad Alzino, ht), Raja Rafe, Yahia Alrashed (Hamzeh Al Aitouni, ht), Maher Al Said (Bwrhan Sahiwine, 63rd). Coach, Fajer Ebrahim
Goals—Yuto Nagatomo (3rd min), Keiji Tamada (26th min) and Yoshito Okubo (62nd min) for Japan. Mohamad Alzino (78th min) for Syria
Cautions—Ziad Chabo, Raja Rafe and Abd Alkader Dakka (all Syria). Atsuto Uchida and Shinji Kagawa (all Japan)
Expulsions—None
Attendance—25,004
Referee—Choi Myung Yong (Korea Republic)