Japan only needed a draw with Denmark to progress to the knockout stages, but coach Takeshi Okada told media prior to the game that he expects his team to win.
And that's exactly what they did, easing past their Group E opponents, 3-1, in Rustenburg on Thursday. Their reward: a Round-of-16 matchup against Group D winners Paraguay on June 29.
The result drops Denmark from the tournament and marks the first time they have not progressed from the group stages in four World Cup appearances.
The Blue Samurai made easy work of their European counterparts, attacking from the get-go and controlling the game. However, two of their goals came from set-pieces.
The first tallied in the 17th minute from Keisuke Honda's surprise free kick strike. Positioned to the right of goal and around 30 yards out, Honda launched a floating, dipping shot. The effort never looked menacing, but it moved in the air just enough to wrong-foot Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen before swishing the top corner of the net.
Japan doubled the score less than 10 minutes later—and once again the strike came from a free-kick situation. This time Yasuhito Endo stepped up and curled his 25-yard effort around the wall and into the net. The sublime strike left Sorensen no chance as he grasped at thin air.
And they could have made it a hat trick of free-kick goals when just after the break, Endo floated in another looping effort that almost caught Sorensen off his line. Luckily for the Danes, the 'keeper backpedaled fast enough to push the shot onto the bar and out of danger.
However, they did earn their insurance score just a couple minutes from time when substitute Shinji Okazaki was the final recipient of a well-worked team move outside of the Danes' box. Collecting the final pass that cut the Denmark defense into pieces, Okazaki calmly poked his shot home to seal Japan's passage into the final 16.
Denmark, though, weren't without their chances.
Early in the second half, a looping cross eluded three Danish attackers in the box, including an unmarked Thomas Kahlenberg at the far post. Forward Jon Dahl Tomasson, who had replaced veteran Jesper Gronkjaer for this match, forced two good saves from Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima—including one from close range early in the second half after Nicklas Bendtner had flicked on Lars Jacobsen's ball. Tomasson then whiffed a chance spectacularly when a low, driven cross ricocheted off his standing leg at just 10 yards out.
Jakob Poulsen also tested Kawashima, who handled the 20-yard effort easily, and then Soren Larson's 20-yard volley struck the crossbar.
Denmark finally collected their consolation after a soft push on Daniel Agger was whistled for a penalty kick 10 minutes from time. Tomasson stepped up to take the kick, but Kawashima easily saved the veteran's poor shot. However, Tomasson was quick to react, putting back the rebound to earn his first international goal in two years.
Scoring summary:
JPN: Honda, 17
JPN: Endo, 26
DEN: Tomasson, 81
JPN: Okazaki, 88
Lineups:
Denmark: 1-Thomas Sorensen; 15-Simon Poulsen, 4-Daniel Agger, 13-Per Kroldrup (Soren Larsen), 6-Lars Jacobsen, 19-Dennis Rommedahl, 2-Christian Poulsen, 10-Martin Jorgensen (Jacob Poulsen), 12-Thomas Kahlenberg (Christian Eriksen), 9-Jon Dahl Tomasson, 11-Nicklas Bendtner.
Japan: 21-Eiji Kawashima; 2-Yuki Abe, 22-Yuji Nakazawa, 4-Tulio, 3-Yuichi Komano, 5-Yuto Nagatomo, 16-Yoshito Okubo (Yasuyuki Konno), 7-Yasuhito Endo, 17-Makoto Hasebe, 8-Daisuke Matsui (Shinji Okazaki), 18-Keisuke Honda.
Referee: Jerome Damon (South Africa)
