Yuya Osako on Friday scored five goals as Japan routed Myanmar 10-0 to become the first team in Asia to secure a place in the third round of World Cup qualifying.
Takumi Minamino’s brace for Japan, and a goal each from Hidemasa Morita, Daichi Kamada and Ko Itakura, gave a weakened Myanmar their heaviest-ever defeat.
Myanmar, who were missing several stars who had refused to play in protest at February’s military coup, had not played an international match in 18 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: AFP
The result was beyond doubt quickly.
Osako scored three goals in the first half hour and another two in the second half at the Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba, Japan, which was closed to fans because of pandemic restrictions.
“We’ve shown that aggressive attitude, to go for another goal even after the result was beyond doubt, and also not slacking off to keep a clean sheet,” the Kyodo news agency quoted Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu as saying. “They were focused on playing at a high standard.”
Photo: AFP
Japan have the best record of all teams in the second round of Asian qualification, with 37 goals and none conceded in their six wins in Group F.
Taiwan have three games to play, but are out of contention in Group B qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup next year with no wins.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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AP, CAGLIARI, Sardinia
Federico Bernardeschi on Friday scored one goal and set up two more in Italy’s 7-0 win over San Marino in a European Championship warmup.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini used mostly reserves before he was to decide over the weekend on his 26-man list for the delayed Euro 2020.
“We still have some question marks,” Mancini said. “We need to choose between a couple of great players.”
Bernardeschi boosted his chances of more playing time at the Euros by opening the scoring with a long-range effort in the 31st minute.
He set up substitute Andrea Belotti for another goal after the break following an exchange with the Torino center forward.
Bernardeschi also produced strong work down the left flank that led to Matteo Pessina’s second goal four minutes from time.
It was a stark contrast from Bernardeschi’s performances at Juventus, where he has struggled recently.
“He’s always done well with us,” Mancini said. “He helped us qualify.”
Matteo Politano also had a brace and Gian Marco Ferrari scored.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
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