AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia    Group Stage 1st Match
Mon. 12 January 2015    Kickoff 18:00    Playing time 90min
Newcastle Stadium (Newcastle/Australia)

SAMURAI BLUE(Japan National Team)    4-0(1st 3-0, 2nd 1-0)　Palestine National Team

Scores
8min　  ENDO Yasuhito (SAMURAI BLUE)
25min　OKAZAKI Shinji (SAMURAI BLUE)
43min　HONDA Keisuke (SAMURAI BLUE)
49min　YOSHIDA Maya (SAMURAI BLUE)

Starters
GK:   KAWASHIMA Eiji
DF:   NAGATOMO Yuto, MORISHIGE Masato, SAKAI Gotoku, YOSHIDA Maya
MF:   ENDO Yasuhito, KAGAWA Shinji, HASEBE Makoto
FW:   HONDA Keisuke, OKAZAKI Shinji, INUI Takashi

Substitutes
GK:   NISHIKAWA Shusaku, HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki
DF:   UEDA Naomichi, OTA Kosuke, SHIOTANI Tsukasa, SHOJI Gen
MF:   KIYOTAKE Hiroshi, KONNO Yasuyuki, SHIBASAKI Gaku
FW:  TOYODA Yohei, MUTO Yoshinori

HT   INUI Takashi → KIYOTAKE Hiroshi
58min　ENDO Yasuhito → MUTO Yoshinori
80min　OKAZAKI Shinji → TOYODA Yohei

Match Report

The Japan men's national team, nicknamed SAMURAI BLUE, cruised past Palestine 4-0 in their first Group D game of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Newcastle, which was located in southeast of Australia, on 12 January.

Japan had goals from ENDO Yasuhito, OKAZAKI Shinji, HONDA Keisuke (penalty kick) and YOSHIDA Maya against Palestine, Asian Cup debutants. Okazaki was selected the man of the match. In the other contest of the group, Iraq edged Jordan 1-0. With the outcomes, Japan stood on top of the group with the edge in goal differences.

Although continuing rains from the previous day had been gone, the teams had to play in a difficult condition with blowing winds on the pitch. But Japan had high concentration and played boldly from early on. On 8th minute, Endo received a pass from INUI Takashi and fired a middle-range shot and it went into the left corner of the goal for the game's first score.

And on 25th, NAGATOMO Yuto cut deep in the left side and launched a pass into the middle field. Inui relayed it to Kagawa and Kagawa takes a shot hard. Okazaki then came up and headed it into the goal for the second goal for Japan.

Japan had the pace of the game and kept attacking the Palestine goal, connecting passes. On 34th minute, Okazaki and Kagawa relayed the ball with good tempo in the right side, and Inui, who found a space behind Palestine's defensive line, had a shot. The shot was saved, yet on 42ns, this time Japan connected passed from Kagawa to Nagatomo, then Nagatomo to Honda and got a corner kick opportunity.

Kagawa received the corner kick and was fouled in the box to get a penalty kick. Honda took the PK, and he, observing the goalkeeper's move, accurately made it into the goal to give Japan a 3-0 lead at the end of the first half.

SAMURAI BLUE sent KIYOTAKE Hiroshi into the pitch for Inui in the beginning of the second half. Four minutes into the half, Japan had another corner kick chance after Endo took a shot from outside of the penalty area. Kagawa received a corner kick that Endo launched, and kicked a cross inside. Yoshida, who was at the far side, took advantage of his height and headed into the goal to extend Japan's lead.

Japan kept possessing the ball to play the game with their own pace. Head coach Javier Aguirre substituted Endo with MUTO Yoshinori on 58th, and then Okazaki with TOYODA Yohei on 80th, to seek further scoring opportunities.

Palestine attempted to look for chances to rally back, emphasizing their defence. They tried to attack around forwards Ashraf Alfawaghra and Mahmoud Dhada and midfielder Khader Abuhammad. Palestine had a big scoring chance on 68th minute, when Alfawaghra volleyed a shot, but Japan wouldn't let it in.

And on 74th, Ahmed Mahajna received a second yellow card and was ejected from the game. Yet with one man down, Palestine still managed to earn a free kick in the right side on 81st minute. Midfielder Abdallatif Albahdari threatened Japan as he headed the free kick, but Yoshida battled with him and wouldn't let Albahdari's shot get in the goal.

Japan created some scoring opportunities with Kiyotake, Honda and Kagawa in the stoppage time, but weren't able to add another. Japan posted a 4-0 win in their first game of the tournament. SAMURAI BLUE will take on Iraq in Brisbane on the 16th next.

Head Coach and Players Comments

Javier AGUIRRE, Head Coach (SAMURAI BLUE/Japan National Team)
The best thing that happened to us was that we got the result we wanted and received three points, but it wasn't necessarily an easy game. Our opponents were a team with a lot of intensity and played with solid defence. Depending on the time, they put some pressure on us. I'd say it's rare to win with a 4-0 score in football currently, so we should be pleased with this result. I told our guys before the game to pay respect to the opponents and the first game would be the most important game for us, and because when you keep practicing for a long time, you often tend to rush to want to play, so I told them to get in the game with our own pace. And our team received the message well. We lost some intensity in the second half, but I think we did so because we scored our fourth goal early in the period. What we lacked were speed and mobility in the first half, and middle-range shots in the second. But overall our defence was good. We still have issues, but we are going to adjust them, and we would like to avoid losing our concentration after we had this 4-0 win.

FW  OKAZAKI Shinji (1.FSV Mainz 05/Germany)
The whole team were able to entre the game well and it led to Endo's goal. The weather wasn't too bad, so I was able to move fine and our approach was fine too, so I think I was able to contribute to creating chances. But our opponents lost one player for an ejection, and I think we could have gone more aggressively and wanted more goals. We are not satisfied with the four goals. On my goal, I thought Kagawa would take the shot, but maybe it was going off, so I was aiming to put it in if his shot was off. It was very important for us to gain some confidence by winning the first game. I want to avenge our disappointment that we received through the FIFA World Cup here, and that we were able to play aggressively at the start of it is going to affect our play from the next time on as well.

DF  YOSHIDA Maya (Southampton FC/England)
First games are always difficult in any tournaments, and since we had almost any information on Palestine, so we entred it cautiously. To be frankly, I think that there were gaps between the two sides in terms of their abilities. But they had a couple of players up front who had speed and moved well, so when we had our offence, I played being aware of the risk management. But our defence was just fine overall. It was a good start for us. But what we have to do first is to get through the group, and it is going to be important.

MF  ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka)
I think we took a good start of the tournament with the 4-0 win. On my goal scene, I thought that if I floated it, it would be affected by the wind, so I kicked it low and it was great it went in. Because I'm playing at a higher spot, I have more awareness for scoring, and I think it's come out as positive outcomes. Today, all of us had high motivation and were able to get in the game well, but at the end of the day, it won't mean anything if we won't be the champions. Considering the volume of the time we dominated the ball, we had fewer big chances, so we want to have better connections between ourselves both offensively and defensively. All of us are not satisfied with the result today, and we have to win our next game. So we are going to forget today's game and want to prepare for the next game.

FW  HONDA Keisuke (AC Milan/Italy)
I think that because we scored the first goal in a good fashion early, we came up with the 4-0 result. I think that it's very good that what we are trying to do is clearer as the team, but we need to improve on the qualities of plays and eliminate the number of mistakes. I think that we took the pace of the game and everybody was able to play relaxing. (On my own penalty kick) No matter how I score, scoring always gives me confidence, so I want to have better preparation so I can score again next, and I think that it will be very important for us to score a first game in the next game. We are up for difficult matches ahead of us, so we want to entre cautiously.

MF  KAGAWA Shinji (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)
First games are difficult, more than I scored a goal, I think it was great that we were able to win the first game giving up no goals. (On the second goal for the team) I tried to shoot it low so I could make it within the goalmouth, but Okazaki stepped in nicely. I think that the shot would have gotten out of the goalmouth, and Okazaki showed he was truly a striker right there. As far as me concerned, I will still need to develop my condition and I'm making too many easy mistakes. Once we extended our lead to 3-0, 4-0, I wasn't able to raise my play level. For the second and third game, I will need to improve my condition.

Ahmed Al Hassan, Head Coach (Palestine National Team)
I would like to tell congratulations to Japan. We learned a lot as we faced Japan. But we make too many mistakes and will need to adjust them for our next game. We played being cautious that Japan was going to capitalize on their speed and short passes in the middle as well as in the sides. But two of Japans goals weren't made in those ways but one with a middle-range shot and another from a penalty kick, and we just made mistakes on those. We got the spot in this tournament as we won in the Challenge Cup, and I feel that the gaps between us and other teams in this Asian Cup, both individually and as collectively, but as we just finished our first game, I feel so proud of ourselves as if I cannot describe this feeling in words. I think that we were able to show that we can put up some good plays, and we want to keep showing that we can play good football.

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