Japan wrapped up the September international break with their second emphatic victory in as many matches, defeating Turkey, 4-2, at Cegeka Arena in Gent, Belgium.
The Samurai Blue beat four-time world champions Germany on Saturday, 4-1, so they entered Tuesday’s clash with plenty of confidence as they build towards this winter’s Asian Cup.
Urawa Reds’ Atsuki Ito started the Samurai Blue off right, scoring in the 15th minute with a blistering shot from 25 yards. It was a spectacular goal and one that Ito will never forget, as it marked first senior international goal.
Japan kept the pressure up and found a second goal before the half-hour mark thanks to Gamba Osaka product Keita Nakamura. He pounced on the rebound of a long shot, knocking into the empty net and the Samurai Blue led 2-0.
Eight minutes later, Nakamura was back on the scoresheet as Cerezo Osaka’s Seiya Maikuma drove down the right before hitting a low cross for Nakamura for the finish.
Turkey did fight back, scoring just before halftime and again in the second half to cut the Japan lead to 3-2, but the Samurai Blue remained a constant threat and found the goal that put the match away late on.
Former Ventforet Kofu and Kashiwa Reysol man Junya Ito raced in behind the defense, showing off his pace as he went in on goal, but he was dragged down from behind and awarded a penalty. Ito took the spot kick, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and putting the ball in the corner for a picture perfect penalty kick that wrapped up the 4-2 victory for Japan.
The Samurai Blue made 10 changes to the starting lineup that beat Germany over the weekend and were just as dangerous, demonstrating the depth of this squad as they beat two strong European opponents by a combined score of 8-3.
Every single player on the Japan team currently plays in the Meiji Yasuda J.League or made their professional debuts in the domestic league. Now, they are starring for a national team on the rise, having made it out of the group of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, put up two big wins in Europe this week and now get ready to take aim at a record fifth AFC Asian Cup crown.
