Ayase Ueda scored a brace as Japan knocked Tunisia out of the World Cup with a comfortable 4-0 win.
Goals from Daichi Kamada, Junya Ito and two Ueda efforts either side of half-time ensured Japan earned their first win in Group F to move level on four points with the Netherlands, while a second successive loss sees Tunisia exit.
Tunisia were playing under new head coach Herve Renard after sacking Sabri Lamouchi in the aftermath of Monday’s 5-1 defeat to Sweden, but they fell behind early against Japan in Monterrey.
Keito Nakamura played a low pass across the six-yard box and in the middle of a cluster of players, Kamada was able to stab home to send Japan ahead four minutes in.
Aymen Dahmen made a strong save to deny Ueda moments later, but Japan soon doubled their advantage through Ueda in the 31st minute.
A superb effort from Ueda saw the striker move the ball towards the edge of the area on the right before firing into the far bottom corner.
Japan continued to impress after the break and Ito bagged their third in the 69th minute, finishing off a well-worked team move with a cool, low finish past Dahmen.
With seven minutes of normal time to play, Ueda wrapped up the game with a looping header from Kaishu Sano’s cross that dipped into the bottom corner of the net.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu told DAZN, in quotes reported on the FIFA website: “We didn’t know exactly what the opponents would do, but we didn’t focus too much on them. Instead, we prepared well for what we wanted to do and played aggressively.
“During our preparations, the coaching staff made it clear what we needed to do, and because of that the players were able to perform to their full potential.”
