Japan¡¯s 4-0 win over Tunisia on Saturday has left Hajime Moriyasu¡¯s side in a strong position to reach the knockout stage at the World Cup. Daichi Kamada¡¯s early strike, Ayase Ueda¡¯s brace and Junya Ito¡¯s cool-headed finish allowed Moriyasu to bring on several substitutes in the final 20 minutes once the result was secured.

The win leaves the Samurai Blue with four points and a plus-4 goal difference, second behind the Netherlands in Group F only on goals scored following the Dutch¡¯s emphatic 5-1 dismantling of Sweden. Tunisia is already out after losing its first two games, while Sweden has three points and still stands a reasonable chance of qualifying for the next stage.

The caliber of opposition faced should give Japan pause before getting too excited ¡ª Tunisia had just five days with new head coach Herve Renard after firing his predecessor in the aftermath of a 5-1 loss to Sweden. But Japan controlled the game from the start and relentlessly ran up the scoreline, knowing it could prove to be important in the Group F standings.

¡°Tunisia had changed its coach, so we had absolutely no way of predicting how they would play,¡± Moriyasu said. ¡°Given that situation, the players prepared well, and the coaches instilled the playing model so that the players could play with confidence. Of course, every match depends on the opponent, but I was happy that the players did their best in terms of what we ourselves should do, and that it led to the result.¡±

Kamada again played a major role for Japan, scoring the first goal after just four minutes and anchoring much of the attack from the midfield. Japan was dominant in its opponent¡¯s half of the pitch, recording 62.1% possession and 11 shots to Tunisia¡¯s two.

¡°Recently we have been using Daichi as a holding midfielder, but when we considered the current situation of the team (with injuries), we thought about moving him to a shadow role and having him control the team¡¯s attack and defense from that position,¡± Moriyasu said Saturday.

¡°He also scored today. I think he not only served as the starting point in the shadow role, but also got into dangerous areas in front of goal and scored. It was a great goal that really gave the team momentum.¡±

Japan can wrap up qualification to the knockout round of 32 by beating Sweden on Thursday, with first place in Group F still possible depending on what happens with the Netherlands¡¯ match against Tunisia. Since Japan drew against the Netherlands in its first match, the head-to-head tiebreaker is not in play; placement will come down to goal difference, then goals scored ¡ª where the...