Japan join Netherlands on four points after the Dutch thrashed Sweden 5-1
\nGuadalupe
\nJapan marked the 1,000th match in World Cup history with a commanding 4-0 win over Tunisia in Group F on Saturday, as Ayase Ueda scored twice to send the North Africans out.
\nHajime Moriyasu\u2019s side, who drew 2-2 with the Netherlands in their opener, went ahead after four minutes when a sweeping attack ended with Keito Nakamura cutting the ball back for Daichi Kamada to score.
\nTunisia, beaten 5-1 by Sweden in their first match and playing under new coach Herve Renard, struggled to cope with Japan\u2019s pressing and movement from the outset.
\nJapan almost doubled their advantage in the 11th minute with an attack down the right flank, with Tunisia\u2019s Dylan Bronn turning a low cross away from Kamada.
\nFrom the resulting corner, Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen produced a fine save, with goal-line technology confirming the ball had not crossed the line.
\nMoriyasu\u2019s team continued to dominate possession, their frontline harrying Tunisia\u2019s defence and preventing Renard\u2019s side from establishing any rhythm in the Monterrey heat.
\nThe second goal arrived in the 31st minute when Ueda advanced towards the edge of the area, and with the Tunisia defence backing off he drove a low shot into the far corner.
\n\u201cI was disappointed in the last tournament, so I feel like I\u2019ve finally been able to redeem myself,\u201d Ueda told Japanese media.
\n\u201cWe managed to snatch one point in the first match, which was a tough game, so we needed three points in today\u2019s match to build on that. I\u2019m very happy that I was able to contribute to that.\u201d
\nTunisia offered little in response and Japan put the result beyond doubt in the 69th minute, Kamada\u2019s pass opening up the Tunisian defence and Junya Ito racing clear to finish low past Dahmen.
\nUeda completed the rout six minutes from time, meeting Kaishu Sano\u2019s clipped far-post delivery and guiding a superb header into the top corner as Japan became the first Asian team to score four goals in a World Cup match.
\nJapan turned to Kamada and Ito with midfielder Takefusa Kubo sidelined, and manager Moriyasu said they did not disappoint.
\n\u201cRegarding the players I used in building up the team, they were at the centre of all our efforts. I\u2019ve brought Kamada on as a defensive midfielder, but tonight I wanted him to be in the role of shadow striker,\u201d the coach told reporters.
\n\u201cI thought that would bring out the best in him. It really worked, because he scored a goal today. He wasn\u2019t just a focal point. He went right into the final third, and his play certainly gave strong momentum to the team.\u201d
\nWith the win, Japan join the Netherlands on four points after the Dutch thrashed Sweden 5-1. Tunisia became the third side to be eliminated from the tournament after Haiti and Turkiye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Japan join Netherlands on four points after the Dutch thrashed Sweden 5-1 Guadalupe Japan marked the 1,000th match in World Cup history with a commanding 4-0 win over Tunisia in Group F on Saturday, as Ayase Ueda scored twice to send the North Africans out. Hajime Moriyasu\u2019s side, who drew 2-2 with the Netherlands in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":99359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99370,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99349\/revisions\/99370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}