Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009

HONG KONG (Kyodo) Japan wrapped up the year on a high note Wednesday with a comfortable 4-0 win over minnows Hong Kong in the final round of qualifying for the 2011 Asian Cup.

Easy does it: Shunsuke Nakamura fights for the ball with Hong Kong's Li Haiqiang during their Asian Cup qualifying match on Wednesday in Hong Kong. Japan won 4-0. AP PHOTO

Makoto Hasebe fired Japan in front with his first international goal just after the half hour mark and Hisato Sato headed the second before late goals from Shunsuke Nakamura and Shinji Okazaki secured the points in Group A.

Japan have nine points from four games while Hong Kong are without a point at the bottom of the group that also includes Bahrain and Yemen.

Hammered 6-0 in the corresponding fixture in Shizuoka last month, Hong Kong made a lively start but it was Japan that went closest to breaking the deadlock when Yoshito Okubo had a shot cleared off the line on 18 minutes.

Wolfsburg midfielder Hasebe gave the visitors the breakthrough when he collected a pass from Atsuto Uchida and let fly to give Hong Kong goalkeeper Zhang Chunhui no chance from 20 meters.

The gulf in class between the two sides started to show as the half wore on and Daisuke Matsui and Marcus Tulio Tanaka both had efforts cleared off the line approaching the interval.

Okubo spurned a great chance to double the lead from close range early in the second period but the second goal arrived with just over a quarter of an hour remaining when substitute Sato lost his marker to head in Yasuhito Endo's cross.

A trademark free kick from Nakamura made it three and Okazaki, who scored a hat-trick in the last meeting with Hong Kong, dusted himself off to convert from the penalty spot after he had been brought down in the box by Chan Wai Ho.

The top two teams from each of the qualifying groups progress to the 2011 Asian Cup finals in Qatar.

Japan failed to qualify automatically for the tournament after they lost 6-5 on penalties to archrivals South Korea in the third-place playoff match at the 2007 finals in Southeast Asia.

The head of Japan's football association wants FIFA to ban vuvuzela trumpets at the World Cup next year.

Japan Football Association President Motoaki Inukai said he had already asked officials in South Africa to stop the use of the noisy instruments, and would ask FIFA — football's world governing body — to do so as well, the Sankei Sports newspaper reported Tuesday.

The trumpets are a fixture at matches held in South Africa, where they're blown continuously by fans and drew complaints from players, coaches and broadcasters at the Confederations Cup earlier this year.

Some Japanese players said they couldn't hear each other on the field and had to use hand signals during a scoreless draw in an international friendly against World Cup host South Africa at Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

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