Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endō both struck wonderful free-kicks to help Japan secure a 3-1 triumph over Denmark and send the Asian country into the last 16 of the World Cup.
Honda got his and Japan's second goal of the tournament in the 17th minute with a blistering free-kick from the right of the Danish area which went over the wall and swerved into the far corner of the net.
Japan extended their lead on the half hour mark when Endō hit a sweet free-kick from 30 yards in front of goal into the left side of the Danes' net, placing the ball beautifully around the wall.
Denmark pulled one back in the 81st minute when Jon Dahl Tomasson tapped in the rebound from his own penalty kick after Makoto Hasebe brought down Daniel Agger inside the area.
Six minutes later, however, Honda set up substitute Shinji Okazaki for Japan's third to put the result beyond Denmark's reach.
Lineups:
Denmark: Thomas Sørensen; Lars Jacobsen, Daniel Agger, Per Krøldrup (Søren Larsen, 56), Simon Poulsen; Christian Poulsen, Martin Jørgensen (Jakob Poulsen, 34); Dennis Rommedahl, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Thomas Kahlenberg (Christian Eriksen, 63); Nicklas Bendtner
Japan: Eiji Kawashima; Yūichi Komano, Yuji Nakazawa, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yuto Nagatomo; Yuki Abe; Makoto Hasebe, Daisuke Matsui (Shinji Okazaki, 75), Yasuhito Endō (Junichi Inamoto, 90), Yoshito Ōkubo (Yasuyuki Konno, 88); Keisuke Honda
Statistics:
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Honda got his and Japan's second goal of the tournament in the 17th minute with a blistering free-kick from the right of the Danish area which went over the wall and swerved into the far corner of the net.
Japan extended their lead on the half hour mark when Endō hit a sweet free-kick from 30 yards in front of goal into the left side of the Danes' net, placing the ball beautifully around the wall.
Denmark pulled one back in the 81st minute when Jon Dahl Tomasson tapped in the rebound from his own penalty kick after Makoto Hasebe brought down Daniel Agger inside the area.
Six minutes later, however, Honda set up substitute Shinji Okazaki for Japan's third to put the result beyond Denmark's reach.
Lineups:
Denmark: Thomas Sørensen; Lars Jacobsen, Daniel Agger, Per Krøldrup (Søren Larsen, 56), Simon Poulsen; Christian Poulsen, Martin Jørgensen (Jakob Poulsen, 34); Dennis Rommedahl, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Thomas Kahlenberg (Christian Eriksen, 63); Nicklas Bendtner
Japan: Eiji Kawashima; Yūichi Komano, Yuji Nakazawa, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yuto Nagatomo; Yuki Abe; Makoto Hasebe, Daisuke Matsui (Shinji Okazaki, 75), Yasuhito Endō (Junichi Inamoto, 90), Yoshito Ōkubo (Yasuyuki Konno, 88); Keisuke Honda
Statistics:
| Denmark | Japan | |
| 1 | Goals | 3 |
| 10 | Shots on target | 8 |
| 8 | Shots off target | 8 |
| 7 | Corners | 2 |
| 23 | Fouls | 10 |
| 0 | Offsides | 5 |
| 3 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 56 | Ball possession (%) | 44 |
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