Saitama: Japan produced a splendid second-half display at the Saitama Stadium 2002 on Thursday to claim a resounding 5-0 triumph over Afghanistan in the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers.
The victory moves them one step closer to wrapping up top spot in Group E, which they can guarantee in their final qualifier next Tuesday against second-placed Syria.
It also saw the Samurai Blue continue their excellent form which has seen them score 22 goals and concede none in their past five victories, with their only blemish in the campaign thus far coming in their opening 0-0 draw with Singapore.
Yet, it did look as though a repeat of that disappointing draw could be on the cards early on as the hosts failed to capitalise on their dominance, spurning countless excellent opportunities throughout the first half.
But two minutes before the break, Shinji Okazaki provided them with the breakthrough when he latched onto a Hiroshi Kiyotake pass and did brilliantly to beat both Sayed Hashemi and Modijeb Jamali before finishing into the back of the net.
Kiyotake then doubled Japan’s lead in the 58th minute when he got in behind the opposition defence with a late run into the box, racing onto Mu Kanazaki’s delightful first-time ball and calmly prodding his shot past the onrushing Ovays Azizi.
Things went from bad to worse for Afghanistan three minutes after the hour mark when Sharif Mukhammad scored an own goal after deflecting Hiroki Sakai’s low cross past Azizi at the near post.
From then on, there was only ever going to be one winner but the Japanese made sure of the emphatic triumph with two more goals in the closing stages; Maya Yoshida heading home a Kiyotake corner in the 74th minute, before Kanazaki bundled the ball over the line from close range four minutes later after Mike Havenaar had nodded the ball into his path.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.
Source: the-afc.com