Japan’s national football team has been on fire, scoring 22 goals in its last five matches, including a three-goal victory over Canada in a friendly.
Japan, ranked 19th in the world by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), defeated 44th-ranked Canada 4-1 in a friendly at Niigata Stadium in Japan on 13 March.
Japan exploded for three goals in the first half to take an early lead.
Ao Tanaka (Düsseldorf) opened the scoring just two minutes into the match and the Japanese were fortunate to get an own goal from Alfonso Davies (Bayern Munich) in the 39th minute.
Davies’ attempt to clear a ground ball cross from the left flank was deflected by goalkeeper Milan Borion (Slovan Bratislava) and resulted in an own goal.
Japan, buoyed by the momentum, put Canada away early when Keito Nakamura (Stade de Reims) scored his third goal three minutes later.
Tanaka scored his team’s fourth goal four minutes into the second half and, apart from a 44th-minute concession to Junior Hoilett (Vancouver), Japan never looked back, finishing the game 4-1.
Japan has been on a tear offensively, scoring 22 goals in its last five matches.
In June, Japan thrashed El Salvador 6-0 in a friendly on home soil, followed by a 4-1 win over Peru.
Moving to Europe in September, they shocked the German football world with a 4-1 thrashing of the ‘Tank Corps’.
They followed that up with a 4-2 win over Turkiye in their second A match in September. They had won five consecutive A matches before the Canada game.
Japan will play Tunisia on 17 October in the second round of the A Match. 파워볼분석