Favourites Japan have run riot against India in the Women's Asian Cup, romping to an 11-0 victory at Perth Oval in the most one-sided game of the tournament.
Hat-tricks by Riko Ueki and Hinata Miyazawa, a brace from Kiko Seike, and other goals from Yuzuki Yamamoto, Yui Hasegawa, and Maya Hijikata saw Nils Nielsen's side cruise to victory on Saturday.
The cakewalk secured them top place in group C and a meeting with a third-placed finisher in the quarter-finals, short of a cataclysmic collapse against Vietnam next Tuesday.
Handily dispatched by a foe ranked 59 places above them in the FIFA rankings, one possessing far greater resourcing and drawn from a far more developed footballing system, India will face Taiwan next Tuesday, needing an unlikely win to retain any hope of progressing as one of the best third-placed finishers.
It had taken the Japanese just over an hour to open the scoring against Taiwan in their 2-0 win last Wednesday, but there were no such delays this time around, with Yamamoto's opening thunderbolt coming in the fourth minute, Hasegawa's effort arriving in the 13th, and Miyazawa firing home in the 20th.
The Nadeshiko were completely dominant, with Mina Tanaka's sumptuous backheel setting up Miyazawa's second in the 35th minute to reinforce the gulf between the two sides.
A Seike penalty made it five on the stroke of halftime before newly introduced substitute Ueki fired in two quickfire goals to make it 7-0 inside the first five minutes of the second stanza.
While a record-setting margin was never on the cards – Japan defeated Guam 21-0 in 1997 – Japan continued to cruise, with Seike, Hijikata, Ueki, and Miyazawa adding further goals as the second-half continued.
