Japan beat Zambia 5-0, in Hamilton, New Zealand, early this Saturday (22), Brasilia time. The game opens the third day of the World Cup, according to Brazilian time, with the biggest rout of the 2023 World Cup so far.
With the wide victory, the Japanese secured the leadership of group C, which has Spain in second place after the victory against Costa Rica, by 3 to 0, in the early hours of Friday (21), Brasilia time.
Champions of the 2011 World Cup, held in Germany, the Japanese relied on debutants in the World Cup to convert the superiority shown on the field into a rout, something that the United States, favorites for the title, took a while to do against Vietnam on Friday night. England, also a favorite selection, had even more difficulties to overcome Haiti, by 1 to 0, despite dominating the game in the early hours of this Saturday.
The duel between Asians and Africans had a strong offensive from Japan, which forced the Zambians to remain in defense. But it was not possible to hold back the advance of the Japanese for a long time. Already at 21 minutes Tanaka rocked the net. After the VAR review, the goal was disallowed for indicating offside.
Only at 43 minutes did the scoreboard open. Hinata Miyazawa completed Aoba Fujino’s move and pushed the ball into the net.
In the second half, another cancellation. Tanaka again finished a cross in the fifth minute, but VAR again identified the attacker’s offside.
Finally, ten minutes into the second half of the game, Tanaka scored the second goal for the Japanese team. From there it was a series of goals over Zambia. At 16, Miyazawa pushed the ball back into the net after a good move and a pass from Tanaka on the bottom line.
Soon after, Endo entered the area after exchanging passes and recorded 4-0 for Japan. The African team even tried to stop the advance of the Japanese, but failed to hold back the dominant attack.
In the last seconds, Ueki decreed the 5-0 defeat in the second penalty kick, after the first, which exploded on the crossbar, was annulled by the referee.
