OSAKA – Japan found its scoring touch to thrash Tajikistan 8-0 on Tuesday and stay on course for a place in the final qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup.
Japan had notched only three goals in its three previous games going into the match at Nagai Stadium, but it took just 11 minutes for Mike Havenaar to give the home side the lead in his first national team start, before Shinji Okazaki doubled the advantage eight minutes later.
Unable to view this article?
This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.
Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.
If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see this support page.
We humbly apologize for the inconvenience.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.