W’Cup qualifier: Mitoma, Endo score as Japan thrash China 7-0

Japan dominated China 7-0 on Thursday to start the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying with a dominant victory. Premier League players Kaoru Mitoma and Wataru Endo both scored goals.

This was Brighton's Mitoma, a winger, playing for Japan for the first time since the Asian Cup in January. He has missed a significant portion of this year due to injuries.

At the start of the match, Japan had been ahead thanks to a header from Liverpool's Endo, but he made a dramatic comeback in front of almost 50,000 spectators in Saitama.

Japan was in complete control of their match against a China team hoping to make their first World Cup since 2002 as Takumi Minamino scored two more goals after the break.Before late goals from Takefusa Kubo and Daizen Maeda completed a commanding performance from Hajime Moriyasu's team, Junya Ito, who was also playing for Japan for the first time since the Asian Cup, added another.

Notwithstanding the lopsided score, skipper Endo stated the victory "wasn't easy."

"We had a positive energy when we arrived on the pitch," he stated.
"After we started playing our own football and scored our first goal from a set piece, we continued to score goals." It was an excellent game, and we ended up with three points.

For China, whose better head-to-head record over Thailand allowed them to advance to the third qualifying round, it was a night to forget.

Japan is a formidable force. According to China's Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic, "They are the best team in Asia, and it's not just Asia—they are a world-class team."

He continued, "We will collaborate to see if there is anything we can learn from this game.

Along with Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Indonesia, and China, Japan and China have been drawn in an intriguing Group C.
The teams in third and fourth place advance to the next round of qualifying, while the top two teams are assured spots in the World Cup.

Tuesday sees China play Saudi Arabia at home and Japan play Bahrain away.

"Relief" for Mitoma

In the opening goal for the home team, Endo found himself entirely unmarked to head from a corner.
In injury time, Mitoma nodded in Ritsu Doan's cross at the back post to double Japan's lead just before the half ended.

Mitoma, 27, scored his first goal for his nation in over a year, and he expressed his relief upon finding the scoreboard.

"We were able to play well from the first whistle because of the tremendous home support," Mitoma remarked.

"I hope we can repeat this kind of performance, but playing away against Bahrain will be tough."

With two goals in the first six minutes of the second half, Minamino gave Japan a great start.

Ito then scored Japan's fifth goal as a replacement to celebrate his comeback to the team.

After leaving the Asian Cup squad due to accusations made by a Japanese magazine that he had sexually assaulted two women in an Osaka hotel the previous year, the Reims winger had not appeared in any games.

The athlete has denied any misconduct, and Japanese prosecutors withdrew their allegations against him last month.