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Japan beat South Korea to claim football bragging rights
Miki Yamane scored on his debut to give Japan the lead in the 17th minute, before Daichi Kamada added a second 10 minutes later and Wataru Endo notched a late third.
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Japan's defender Miki Yamane celebrates his goal during a friendly football match against South Korea at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture on March 25, 2021.
(AFP/Kazuhiro NOGI )
J
apan beat South Korea -- minus Son Heung-min -- 3-0 on Thursday to claim bragging rights in the first football friendly between the two rivals in 10 years.
Miki Yamane scored on his debut to give Japan the lead in the 17th minute, before Daichi Kamada added a second 10 minutes later and Wataru Endo notched a late third.
Tottenham Hotspur forward Son was pulled from Korea's squad and did not travel to Japan, after club boss Jose Mourinho complained that the player was called up while injured.
Japan's Takumi Minamino started the match despite Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl protesting that it was "nonsense" for his player to travel for international duty during the pandemic.
The result gave the Samurai Blue a win in their first home game since November 2019, and a decent workout before they resume their World Cup qualifying campaign against Mongolia on Tuesday.
The game between the 2002 World Cup co-hosts was played in near-total silence amid coronavirus restrictions, with the 8,300 fans in the cavernous Nissan Stadium banned from cheering.
But that didn't stop Japan from flying out the blocks, with full-back Yamane latching onto Yuya Osako's back-heeled flick to smash home the opener with less than 20 minutes gone.
Eintracht Frankfurt striker Kamada then doubled Japan's lead in the 27th minute, striding forward with the ball before lashing it past Korean goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo.
And Endo made it three in the 83rd minute, rising highest at a corner to plant home a header and seal a resounding win for Japan.
