Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Riffa: A brace from Koki Ogawa helped earn Japan a 4-0 victory over AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016 quarter-final opponents Tajikistan and with it a place in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017 on Monday.
Goals from Ogawa and Ritsu Doan before the break handed Japan a two-goal advantage in the first half before further goals from Ogawa and strike partner Yuto Iwasaki gave the young Samurai Blue an unassailable lead at Bahrain National Stadium.
Tajikistan looked to soak up the early pressure, just as they had done to good effect in the group stages, but Japan took the game to them, hitting early and hard.
Mizuki Ichimaru’s long punt forward in the 9th minute from near the centre circle found Koki Ogawa’s run into the box but his towering header drifted across the face of goal and came off the post.
Tajikistan failed to clear the danger though and Japan got a second bite of the cherry as Ritsu Doan bisected two defenders with his cross back into the box from the right.