The 2014 FIFA World Cup : Japan 6-0 Jordan

Keisuke Honda scored a hat-trick as a four-goal first-half salvo saw Japan ease to a 6-0 win over 10-man Jordan at Saitama Stadium in Group B of the final round of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup on Friday evening. Alberto Zaccheroni’s team were in imperious form once again just days after their demolition of Oman to maintain their perfect start to the final phase of qualifying for Brazil 2014. The Japanese will now go into their meeting with Australia in Brisbane on Tuesday knowing a win in Queensland will put them in the ideal position to secure a place at a fifth straight FIFA World Cup finals. Honda’s hat-trick was complimented by goals from Ryoichi Maeda, Shinji Kagawa and Yuzo Kurihara while Jordan’s hopes were hit just before the half-hour mark when Abdallah Deeb was sent off. Maeda put Japan on the way to the win in the 18th minute when he rose above the Jordanian defence to meet Honda’s corner, and the Jubilo Iwata striker directed the ball past Amer Sabbah with his shoulder. Just three minutes later, Honda doubled his side’s lead when he raced onto a sublime pass by Yasuhito Endo before stroking the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot. Jordan’s hopes of claiming anything from the game took a major blow in the 27th minute when Deeb was sent off by referee Kim Dong-jin after an aerial challenge with Japan captain Makoto Hasebe. The Japanese capitalised soon after when Endo – who was unusually quiet in Japan’s 3-0 win over Oman on Sunday – flicked the ball through to Shinji Okazaki, whose pass across the face of goal was tucked away by Honda from close range. With 10 minutes remaining in the half, Manchester United-bound Shinji Kagawa made it 4-0 when he side-footed the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area as the half went from bad to worse for Adnan Hamad’s side. Jordan, despite the four-goal deficit, started the second half in positive fashion with Saeed Morjan and Odai Al Saify going close to testing Eiji Kawashima in the Japanese goal. However, eight minutes into the half, Honda was given the chance to complete his hat-trick when Maeda was brought down by Khalil Bani Ateyah and the CSKA Moscow man made no mistake from the spot. With such a commanding advantage, the intensity of the tempo of Japan’s play dropped slightly but the difference in the teams remained significant and, with only a minute remaining, substitute Kurihara added the sixth with a towering header to steer Yuto Nagatomo’s cross beyond Sabbah.(QNA)