Okazaki hat-trick power Japan to 6-0 win over Hong Kong

J-League striker Shinji Okazaki scored a hat trick as Japan outclassed winless Hong Kong 6-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier here Thursday.

It was the second win for Japan, three-time champions who finished fourth in the 2007 tournament won by Iraq, against one loss in Group A.

“We were not bad but too hasty in attacking in the first half. I told the team to balance their play in the second half,” Japan coach Takeshi Okada said after the match. “I think they fought a good game to score six goals.”

Hong Kong coach Kim Pan-Gon said, “Japan played high-quality football. We have deeply realised we need to improve.”

“We want to spend sufficient time in preparing” for the home game against Japan on November 18, said the Korean, who has been in charge of the team for four months.

The hosts opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Okazaki dribbled into the right side of the box after picking a through pass from Makoto Hasebe and rifled the ball inside the far post.

FC Tokyo defender Yuto Nagatomo trapped a rebound off Okazaki’s shot and went around a Hong Kong defender in the penalty area to slam home Japan’s second goal on 29 minutes.

In the 34th minute, Espanyol midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura’s left-foot free kick from outside the arc hit the bar after Hong Kong’s Brazilian-born defender Cristiano Cordeiro fouled Okazaki.

The Blue Samurai went ahead six minutes into the second half when centre back and captain Yuji Nakazawa headed in a long cross from former Mallorca and Wolfsburg striker Yoshito Okubo.

Another centre back Marcus Tulio Tanaka scored Japan’s fourth goal as he trapped a right corner from Nakamura on the far side and kicked in past Hong Kong goalkeeper Zhang Chunhui on 67 minutes.

Okazaki’s second and third goals came in the space of two minutes as he headed home a cross on the break and then slotted in a rebound off Hisato Sato’s shot with 13 minutes to go.

“I had been scoreless for some time and I wanted to strike now,” said Okazaki, a Shimizu S-Pulse forward. “Hard work has paid off. I want to continue aiming at the goal.”

Japan will face Scotland on Saturday and Togo six days later in home friendlies in their World Cup build-up.

In Group A, Japan earned six points from two wins and one loss. Hong Kong remained at the bottom with three straight defeats.

Bahrain, with six points from two straight wins over Japan and Hong Kong, will host Yemen on November 18 when Japan play Hong Kong away. Yemen had one win and one loss.

The top two teams from each of the five groups will qualify for the finals in Qatar in 2011.