Proud Japan make history

Group H
Tunisia 0
Japan 2

Japan triggered nationwide celebrations after clinching a place in the World Cup second round for the first time in their history with a 2-0 win over Tunisia yesterday.

Substitute Hiroaki Morishima and playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata grabbed the second-half goals to delight the army of blue-shirted fans packed into Nagai Stadium and put the co-hosts on top of Group H.

They will now play Group C runners-up Turkey in the knock-out phase in Miyagi on Tuesday.

Japan, who needed only a point to advance after a 2-2 draw against Belgium and a 1-0 win over Russia in their first two matches, thoroughly merited their victory.

Coach Philippe Troussier said: "I think we deserved to win. We are not tired, we are calm, we are on our way, we want to achieve good things. It's a very special moment for me personally as well as the team.

"It's the completion of four years of hard work and we've achieved our first objective. The support of the fans was very important."

Goalscorer Hidetoshi Nakata, the FIFA man of the match, said: "It was an important game today but after the second match (a 1-0 win against Russia) we were pretty sure we would go through.

"We knew we could go through with a draw but our objective was to win. It was very important that I scored because we were only leading 1-0 and we needed to snatch a second one."

Tunisia had to beat Japan by two clear goals to qualify for the second round but never came close to achieving that result.

Tunisia coach Ammar Souayah said: "It's very difficult if not impossible to beat a Japanese team that has had several years to prepare and is playing on home soil.

"It was never our objective (at the World Cup) to qualify for the second round. Our objective was to put in a good performance and show Tunisian football in the best possible light."

Asian champions Japan lost all three matches at their World Cup debut in France in 1998 but secured a place in Japanese history thanks to a wonderful second 45 minutes.

They also avoided the indignity of becoming the first host nation not to qualify for the second phase of the tournament. Substitute Morishima scored with his first touch in the 48th minute as he pounced on the loose ball to fire past goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel from 10 metres after a Hidetoshi Nakata pass was deflected into his path by Tunisian defender Raouf Bouzaiane.

"I just kicked it as hard as I could and it went in. I could hear the supporters' voices, so I wanted to do my best. I was surprised. I haven't scored many goals this year or last, so I surprised myself," said Morishima who hails from Osaka.

Five minutes later Morishima almost made it two when his glancing header hit the foot of the post after good work from Daisuke Ichikawa, who had replaced Junichi Inamoto after half-time.

But Nakata sealed the three points when he met another right-wing cross from Ichikawa to head firmly past Boumnijel from close range in the 75th minute and spark delirium among the crowd of 45,213.

Japan dominated in the humid conditions with Nakata and Shinji Ono at the heart of their best moves in midfield.

Ichikawa went close from the edge of the penalty area in the 61st minute, while a downward header from Ono brought a reflex save from Boumnijel four minutes later as Japan piled on the pressure.

Tunisia rarely threatened despite needing to win by two clear goals to go through. They were limited to a long-range effort from striker Ziad Jaziri that flew wide in the 38th minute and a speculative overhead kick from substitute Ali Zitouni midway through the second half.

"It was a tough battle, and I'm just happy we were able to finish first," said Japan midfielder Shinji Ono.

Japan's qualification means that for the first time at a World Cup, countries from all five of FIFA's participating continental confederations - Europe, South America, Central and North America, Africa and Asia - will be represented in the second round. However, Senegal are the only African country in the knock-out phase.

Tunisia: Boumnijel; Badra, Trabelsi, Bouzaiane (Zitouni 79), Jaidi; Clayton (Mhadhebi 61), Bouazizi, Ben Achour, Ghodhbane, Melki (Baya 46); Jaziri.

Japan: Narazaki; Matsuda, Miyamoto, K. Nakata; Myojin, Inamoto (Ichikawa 46), Toda, H. Nakata (Ogasawara 84), Ono; Suzuki, Yanagisawa (Morishima 46).

Referee: Gilles Veissiere (France).

Scorers: Morishima 48, H. Nakata 75.

Yellow cards: Bouazizi, Badra.

HT: 0-0. Attendance: 45,213.