Society | Sep 01

Japan seal World Cup berth, South Korea made to wait

Sep 01 (straitstimes.com) - Japan handed Australia a 2-0 defeat on Thursday (Aug 31) that sealed the nation's sixth straight qualification for the World Cup finals and brought praise from coach Vahid Halilhodzic who heralded his young players' performance.

The Bosnian took a gamble by leaving Keisuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki and Shinji Kagawa on the bench but the experienced trio were not required as Takuma Asano and 21-year-old Yosuke Ideguchi sealed his team's place at the 2018 finals in Russia.

The win means Japan will finish top of Group B in Asia's qualifying tournament while the Australians need to defeat bottom side Thailand on Tuesday and hope Saudi Arabia do not beat the Japanese to guarantee an automatic slot.

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