Feb 06 2009
Japan Thrash Finland In World Cup Warm-Up
Shinji Okazaki was the hero on Wednesday night as Japan warmed up for next week’s vital 2010 World Cup qualifier against Australia with a 5-1 thrashing of Finland in Tokyo.After recent struggles in front of goal, Japan went to town on their opponents, who were fielding an understrength team.Striker Shinji Okazaki opened the scoring after 15 minutes and then doubled the host’s lead just after the half hour. There was still time before the break for Shinji Kagawa to score a fine individual goal to put Japan three goals to the good.The Finns hit back just after the break thanks to Roni Porokara but it was a short-lived revival as seven minutes later, Yuji Nakazawa headed home a fourth. Coach Takeshi Okada was a happy man after the match. ”This is a Test match. But Australia are a stronger team than Finland and we still have some more days to improve,” Okada told reporters.“First of all, we must eliminate their chances off set-piece plays. Hopefully, we can play our best football next week,” he added.(goal.com)
