Uzbekistan paid a visit to secluded Pyongyang to take on host North Korea. North Korea once again demonstrated their defensive prowess while suffering once again from their offensive weaknesses. North Korea games are known to be low-scoring, and their first two matches in this tournament both ended with 1-0 scores. Uzbekistan found the 1-0 lead on a goal twenty-five minutes in as a long ball played from beyond midfield found Alexander Geynrikh, who finished after slaloming around two North Korean defenders.
Uzbekistan made their 1-0 halftime advantage a 1-0 fulltime advantage and secured the three points to guarantee themselves at least a tie atop the Group C standings. More importantly, they are four points ahead of North Korea and the elimination zone.
Japan hosted Tajikistan in Osaka in what turned out to be the single most dominant performance in Japanese team history. Japan controlled over 90 percent of the possession and outshot Tajikistan 39 to one. Mike Havenaar scored his first international goal to open the scoring. Japan were relentless and added three more goals before halftime.
Japan were not content with the 4-0 advantage. Four more goals popped into the Tajik net, including Havenaar's second. Japan were scoring so proficiently that a mishit cross actually accounted for the seventh tally. Japan's 8-0 win accounts for the largest margin of victory in the AFC Third Round so far.
Japan 7 pts +9
Uzbekistan 7 pts +2
North Korea 3 pts -1
Tajikistan 0 pts -10
Goals
Uzbekistan
Alexander Geynrikh 25
Japan
Mike Havenaar 11, 47
Shinji Okazaki 19, 74
Yuichi Komano 35
Shinji Kagawa 41, 68
Kengo Nakamura 56
Match Reports:
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck1qdu8F2yc (Uzbekistan v. North Korea)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKvnGqsnlvA (Japan v. Tajikistan)
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