Soccer-Tunisia brush aside Japan in Kirin Cup final with second-half show

Tunisia struck three times in the second half to hand fellow World Cup qualifiers Japan a 3-0 defeat in the final of the Kirin Cup invitational competition in Osaka on Tuesday. Japan's Sampdoria defender Maya Yoshia was at fault for all three goals as Mohammed Ali Ben Romdhane gave the Tunisians the lead with a penalty in the 55th minute before Ferjani Sassi doubled their advantage with 14 minutes remaining.

Tunisia struck three times in the second half to hand fellow World Cup qualifiers Japan a 3-0 defeat in the final of the Kirin Cup invitational competition in Osaka on Tuesday.

Japan's Sampdoria defender Maya Yoshida was at fault for all three goals as Mohammed Ali Ben Romdhane gave the Tunisians the lead with a penalty in the 55th minute before Ferjani Sassi doubled their advantage with 14 minutes remaining. Issam Jebali then stole possession from Yoshida before hitting the third in the third minute of added time.

The game was the last of four friendlies for Japan scheduled for the current international window, with convincing victories over Paraguay and Ghana recorded on either side of a narrow loss against Brazil. Hajime Moriyasu fielded a similar lineup to the one that lost to the Brazilians after seeing his second-string defeat Ghana 4-1, but the more experienced campaigners struggled.

Sassi headed over the bar in the 13th minute while Takumi Minamino's air shot when he had a clear sight of the goal ensured the opening 30 minutes ended scorelessly. Daichi Kamada was guilty of a glaring miss 10 minutes before the break when he was found at the far post by Junya Ito's low center from the right but the Eintracht Frankfurt man somehow managed to steer the ball wide of an empty net from close range.

That was to prove a costly miss for Moriyasu's side as, 10 minutes into the second half, the Tunisians took the lead. Anis Ben Slimane played the ball behind a retreating Yoshida and the central defender upended Taha Khenissin as he chased back towards goal, leaving Ben Romdhane to slot in from the spot.

Yoshida was caught out again with less than 15 minutes remaining when his hesitancy allowed Youssef Msakni to steal possession deep inside the penalty area before laying the ball off for Sassi to stroke it into the net. The former Southampton man's miserable night was concluded in added time when he lost possession to Jebali who, after reclaiming the ball from Takefusa Kubo, strode from the halfway line to smash home from outside the area.

Japan, who have qualified for a seventh consecutive World Cup, is due to take on Germany, Spain, and the winner of Tuesday's playoff between New Zealand and Costa Rica in Qatar. Tunisia has been drawn with Australia, Denmark, and France in November's finals.