Ueda’s brace sends Japan through as Tunisia’s FIFA World Cup dream ends

On Saturday, Japan successfully marked the 1,000th game in World Cup history with a decisive 4-0 physical defeat over Tunisia, remarkably closing in on a place in the last 32.

Ayase Ueda incredibly scored twice; however, Daichi Kamada and Junya Ito were also on target as the Asian giants joined the Netherlands on four points.

The result implies the team started flat under new Tunisia manager Herve Renard, who was abruptly appointed to take over the World Cup campaign after Sabri Lamouchi was sacked after the Sweden rout.

Renard’s team never looked capable of matching an advanced Japanese side that went immediately into their free-flowing football. Japan secured at least third place in the group which could be enough to advance to the knockout rounds.

Japan finally added to its tally in the last half hour, with striker Ueda, taking advantage of some lax Tunisian defending. 

As reported by Al Jazeera, the rout continued in the second half, with Junya Ito stepping up to calmly finish in the 69th minute before Ueda scored again with a looping header in the 83rd minute.