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Wednesday,
23rd
May
2012
In Sports,
In Sports,
Japan cruise past Azerbaijan in World Cup warm-ups
Japan made sure they were in fine form for the conclusion of their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, beating Azerbaijan in a warm-up game on Wednesday (May 23rd).
The Samurai Blue controlled the game throughout, strolling to a comfortable 2-0 score line at a canter, with goals from Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki.
Kagawa was once again in fine form, having recently won the German Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, who claimed their second consecutive league title this season.
The 23-year-old attacking midfield has enjoyed a sterling year, stepping up for his club in the absence of key personnel and attracting strong interest from none other than Manchester United.
After the game, he said: "It was great as everything went the way as I had imagined.
"But we could not score goals on scoring chances. In that sense, we have to improve towards our next game."
Japan's coach Alberto Zaccheroni said that the team wanted to make sure they were in the right frame of mind for World Cup qualifying, after losing two matches in the previous qualifying round.
Written by Mark Smith
Related news stories:
Japan to host the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup (14th February 2012)
Honda returns for Japan friendly with Azerbaijan (24th April 2012)
Homare Sawa wins the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year (10th January 2012)
Japan 2011 World Club Cup a success as Barcelona crowned champions (19th December 2011)
The Samurai Blue controlled the game throughout, strolling to a comfortable 2-0 score line at a canter, with goals from Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki.
Kagawa was once again in fine form, having recently won the German Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, who claimed their second consecutive league title this season.
The 23-year-old attacking midfield has enjoyed a sterling year, stepping up for his club in the absence of key personnel and attracting strong interest from none other than Manchester United.
After the game, he said: "It was great as everything went the way as I had imagined.
"But we could not score goals on scoring chances. In that sense, we have to improve towards our next game."
Japan's coach Alberto Zaccheroni said that the team wanted to make sure they were in the right frame of mind for World Cup qualifying, after losing two matches in the previous qualifying round.
Written by Mark Smith
Related news stories:
Japan to host the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup (14th February 2012)
Honda returns for Japan friendly with Azerbaijan (24th April 2012)
Homare Sawa wins the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year (10th January 2012)
Japan 2011 World Club Cup a success as Barcelona crowned champions (19th December 2011)
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