Soccer-The week in Asian football

I am thankful that I get this opportunity to bring new players in and give them a chance." KUBO LEADS THE WAY AS JAPAN THRASH 10-MAN EL SALVADOR Takefusa Kubo scored one and set up two more as Japan handed 10-man El Salvador a 6-0 thrashing to leave head coach Hajime Moriyasu delighted with his team's preparations for next year's Asian Cup and the start of World Cup qualifying.

Talking points from the week in Asian football:

CHAMPIONS WUHAN SACK COACH AFTER POOR START TO CSL SEASON Chinese Super League (CSL) champions Wuhan Three Towns fired coach Pedro Morilla, who led them to their first league title last season, after the club secured just three wins from 12 games so far in the current campaign.

The Spaniard had also steered the club into the top flight by winning the second division title in 2021. Wuhan said in a statement issued on Saturday that they had "reached an agreement" with Morilla and his coaching team.

"From today on, Mr. Pedro and his coaching team will no longer coach the first team of Wuhan Three Towns." Wuhan are eighth in the 16-team league, 13 points behind leaders Shanghai Port.

KOREA'S KLINSMANN PRAISES PLAYERS DESPITE PERU DEFEAT South Korea coach Juergen Klinsmann praised the efforts of his fringe players despite seeing a side missing key duo Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae lose 1-0 to Peru on Friday.

Tottenham Hotspur's Son was ruled out of the friendly in Busan due to injury while Napoli defender Kim was not included in the squad for the current window due to his requirement to complete mandatory military training. Peru won thanks to an 11th minute goal from Bryan Reyna.

"When I don't win, I'm angry. It's normal," said Klinsmann. "But the more important thing is that we see who's growing. I am thankful that I get this opportunity to bring new players in and give them a chance." KUBO LEADS THE WAY AS JAPAN THRASH 10-MAN EL SALVADOR

Takefusa Kubo scored one and set up two more as Japan handed 10-man El Salvador a 6-0 thrashing to leave head coach Hajime Moriyasu delighted with his team's preparations for next year's Asian Cup and the start of World Cup qualifying. Shogo Taniguchi headed in Kubo's first-minute free kick before Ronald Rodriguez was sent off two minutes later and Ayase Ueda scored from the penalty spot to double Japan's lead.

Kubo netted Japan's third in the 25th minute before Ritsu Doan made it 4-0. Kubo laid on the fifth for Keito Nakamura while Kyogo Furuhashi completed the scoring 17 minutes from time with a downward header. "Our positive play gave birth to a good flow for us," Moriyasu said. "We played well right from the start, which led to this kind of win."

ARNOLD LOOKS FORWARD AFTER MESSI SEES OFF AUSTRALIA Lionel Messi scored his fastest goal in international football as World Cup holders Argentina handed Australia a 2-0 defeat on Thursday, but Socceroos coach Graham Arnold took a longer-term view after the loss at Beijing's Workers' Stadium.

Messi curled his shot into the bottom corner with less than two minutes on the clock before German Pezzella headed home the second midway through the second half. "The most pleasing thing is there's some kids coming, and we've just got to expose them and give them an opportunity to be exposed against this type of opposition," said Arnold.

"Losing an international fixture is not fantastic - I'm a bad loser. But at the end of the day, I couldn't be prouder of the boys."