Newsfrom Japan
Ao Tanaka opened the floodgates early in the second half as Japan overwhelmed Thailand 5-0 in a men’s international football friendly Monday at Tokyo’s National Stadium.
Keito Nakamura, Takumu Kawamura and Takumi Minamino also found the net for Japan in the New Year’s Day clash, which served as a warmup for the Asian Cup kicking off later this month in Qatar.
With a number of Samurai Blue mainstays still on duty for their European clubs, Hajime Moriyasu gave several new faces a chance to make their case for Asian Cup selection.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s Kawamura, Sint-Truiden’s Ryotaro Ito and Nur…
