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Rolling Japan reaches quarterfinals with 8-1 win
SIDON, Lebanon (AP) -- Japan rolled into the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup with another overwhelming performance Tuesday in a record-setting 8-1 hammering of Uzbekistan behind three goals apiece by Akinori Nishizawa and Naohiro Takahara. It was the biggest victory at an Asian Cup final tournament. Iran beat Bangladesh 7-0 in 1980. "Our goal today wasn't to set a new record but to get three points and make it to the quarterfinals," said Japan's French coach Philippe Troussier. "I am very happy and also a little surprised. It was too easy," he said. After crushing defending champion Saudi Arabia 4-1 in its opening match, Japan produced another high-scoring display, blasting five goals inside the first 25 minutes. And things could have been even worse for Uzbekistan had Nishizawa converted a fifth-minute penalty. Uzbekistan goalkeeper Pavel Bugalo brought down Takahara in a vicious flying tackle to draw the penalty and earn a yellow card. Nishizawa took the spot kick, sending a chest-high shot to the left but Bugalo made a fine save to turn the ball around the post. Two minutes later, Japan bean the rout. Nishizawa connected with a free-kick cross from Shunsuke Nakamura, Bugalo saved the header with his foot but Hiroaki Morishima knocked in the rebound. Nishizawa and Takahara then began their two-man show. Takahara did some great work on the left wing in the 14th and fed a perfect pass to Nishizawa, who had only to tap it in for a 2-0 lead. Four minutes later, Nakamura took a corner kick, defender Yuji Nakazawa flicked it over with his head and Takahara hammered in a header to make it 3-0. With Uzbekistan's defense in tatters, Japan went up 4-0 only two minutes later, in the 20th, when Takahara collected a deep pass from Toshihiro Hattori and slipped it calmly past Bugalo. Nishizawa hit the post with a glancing header before meeting cross from Morishima to head in his second and Japan's fifth in the 25th. Uzbekistan scored five minutes later, taking the small crowd, which seemed to be outnumbered by reporters and photographers, completely by surprise. Midfielder Sergey Lushan got Uzbekistan on the scoreboard by heading in off a corner. In the 36th, defender Andrey Fyodorov cleared off the line after Takahara's shot. Japan's goal festival continued after the interval, with Nishizawa meeting a cross from midfielder Hiroshi Nanami to score with a diving header in the 49th. In the 57th, with Hideaki Kitajima already waiting on the sideline to replace him, Takahara finished his day's work by driving home a through pass from Nanami. Kitajima picked up right where Takahara left off, picking up another defense-splitting pass from substitute Shinji Ono and rounding the goalkeeper to slot it home. Japan, the 1992 Asian Cup champion, now has six points in Group C, after scoring 12 goals in two matches. Uzbekistan has one point. Uzbekistan coach Yuriy Sarkisyan did not show up at the post-match news conference and instead sent in his assistant, Viktor Boresov. "We absolutely did not play today," he said. Asked whether his boss was likely to meet the fate of Saudi Arabia's manager Milan Macala, who was sacked after the defeat to Japan, a grim-faced Boresov said, "I don't think it's my business to answer this."
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