NEWS

Japan advanced to the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup by beating Denmark 3-1 in their third and final group match in Rustenburg, South Africa, on Thursday night.

Keisuke Honda, Yasuhito Endo and substitute Shinji Okazaki scored for the Samurai Blue as they reached the Round of 16 for the first time since 2002.
Japan finished second in Group E behind the Netherlands and will next meet Group F winners Paraguay on June 29 in Pretoria.
Before going into Thursday’s game, Japan were ahead of Denmark on goal difference and only needed a draw to secure their berth in the next round.
Coach Takeshi Okada stuck with the same lineup that started the previous two games and they showed their resilience as they were tested early on in the game, with Danish forward Jon Dahl Tomasson working hard up front.
The Scandinavians came close in the seventh minute with an effort from Simon Poulsen after the left-back surged forward, and in the 14th minute Tomasson narrowly missed the post.
Japan responded well and Daisuke Matsui had a chance when he connected with a pass from Yoshito Okubo in the 13th minute, but his attempt was blocked by Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.
Four minutes later, Makoto Hasebe latched on to a through ball from Yuki Abe but couldn’t find the target.
The Japanese continued to attack and the Danes gave up free-kicks as they tried to stop them.
Honda took advantage of this in the 17th minute by driving in a brilliant free-kick from nearly 30 meters, putting Japan 1-0 up.
The Samurai Blue continued to frustrate their opponents and the Danes gave up another free-kick near the penalty area around the half-hour mark.
As the Danes anticipated another thunderbolt from Honda, Endo curled the ball around the wall and into the net to put Japan 2-0 up.
Okubo could have made it 3-0 before half-time, but his shot went straight into the arms of Danish goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.
Two minutes after the break, Endo tried his luck with a free-kick from 40 meters and Sorensen just managed to tip the ball onto the post.
But the Danes were attacking hard, sending cross after cross high into the middle. In the 52nd minute, Denmark threatened the Japanese goal when Tomasson reacted to a Nicklas Bendtner header, but Hasebe came to rescue at the last minute. Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima then made a couple of good saves around the 60-minute mark.
Denmark finally broke through in the 81st minute when they were awarded a penalty after a foul by Hasebe on Daniel Agger. Kawashima saved the spot kick by Tomasson, but the Dane was able to tuck the rebound into the corner.
Japan eased the nerves of their fans in the 88th minute when a delightful piece of trickery by Honda set up substitute Shinji Okazaki with an easy tap-in and the Shimizu S-Pulse striker duly slotted home Japan’s third goal.