AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023: Japan thrash Vietnam

Japan are currently the Group D leaders in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup, courtesy this win.

A swashbuckling performance from Japan on Tuesday saw them dispatch Vietnam with a 4-0 victory for their first win of the AFC U17 Asian Cup™ Thailand 2023. 

The defending champions had been held by Uzbekistan in their Group D opener three days ago, but made sure that their dominance translated into three points here at the Rajamangala National Stadium.

It only took 86 seconds for the deadlock to be broken as Japan made a dream start by scoring the 50th goal of the tournament.

Shotaro Shibata, one of five changes to the starting line-up, slid a pass down the right flank to Ryunosuke Sato, who jinked past Nguyen Luong Tuan Khai and crossed for Yutaka Michiwaki to head in his second goal in as many games.

However, the rest of the first half turned out to be a tepid affair, with Japan happy to keep the ball and bide their time in making attacking forays, while Vietnam displayed some intricate passing but could not find a telling final pass.

Pham Nguyen Quoc Trung took aim from 30 yards but sent the ball wide, while Kaito Tsuchiya glanced a header off target from a corner at the other end.

Japan appeared to pick up the tempo as half-time approached and should have doubled their advantage in the 38th minute. Kohei Mochizuki surged into the area and forced a save from Nguyen Bao Ngoc with an angled strike, with Michiwaki and Sato both unmarked for a cut-back.

Four minutes later, Michiwaki was guilty of squandering a good chance after spinning his man and dribbling 30 yards forward, only to drag a left-footed effort well past the right post.

Vietnam head coach Hoang Anh Tuan rang the changes at the interval by making three substitutions and his side responded with a fast start, as Nguyen Cong Phuong’s teasing low cross caused panic but was not finished off.

But the Southeast Asians quickly found themselves under the cosh again as Japan reasserted their dominance. A quick swivel of the hips saw Keita Kosugi evade an opponent before shooting wide from range, with Joi Yamamoto doing likewise with a curling effort after a one-two with Sato.

Japan would make their superiority count with two goals within the space of seven minutes, both times by exploiting the right side. First, Mochizuki gleefully converted Shibata’s pull-back in the 59th minute after the latter breezed past Tuan Khai with a couple of stepovers, before Sato produced a delightful finish with the outside of his right foot off Yotaro Nakajima’s through ball.

Cong Phuong came close to reducing arrears with a 20-yard shot that bounced off the post in the 72nd minute, only for Japan to add a fourth two minutes later. Substitute Gota Yamaguchi’s first involvement after coming on was to force Bao Ngoc to parry his shot right into the path of Mochizuki, who could not miss from five yards.

It meant that Japan have now won all five encounters between the pair in tournament history, scoring 24 times and conceding only twice.

Japan will now aim to secure progress from the group stage for an eighth consecutive edition when they face India on Friday, while Vietnam take on Uzbekistan needing victory to keep their knockout round hopes alive.