Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuala Lumpur: Yuto Akama scored five as Japan began their quest to reach the AFC U-16 Championship finals for the 12th time with an emphatic 9-0 win over the Philippines as Group J in the 2014 qualifiers kicked-off in Cheras on Wednesday.
Japan finally broke through the Philippines rear guard with 33 minutes at the Kuala Lumpur Stadium played when Akama got the first of his quintuple.
Fumiya Sugiura made it 2-0 in the 37th minute and after Akama netted Japan’s third three minutes later the forward completed his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time as the East Asians went into the break with a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Akama carried on from where he left off after the restart, scoring his fourth and Japan’s fifth three minutes into the second half before skipper Jun Kato and fellow defender Taiyo Koga got their names on the score sheet in the 57th and 67th minutes respectively.
Akama took his individual tally to five in the 81st minute but it was Toshiki Onozawa that would have the final say in the scoring stakes with the midfielder netting Japan’s ninth and final goal with four minutes of the match remaining.