Summary
Oscar Romero opened the scoring for Paraguay, who failed to qualify for Russia 2018, after 32 minutes. Takashi Inui struck twice after the break, with Borussia Dortmund midfielder Kagawa assisting both, before Federico Santander’s own goal.
Richard Ortiz pulled one back before Kagawa added a fourth in added time. Japan had only three shots on target, with Santander’s deflection from Gaku Shibasaki’s corner providing their third goal, while Paraguay scored with both of their shots on target.
Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki played 74 minutes before he was replaced, while Southampton centre-back Maya Yoshida was an unused substitute. Japan face Colombia in their opening Group H tie at 13:00 BST on Tuesday, 19 June. Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar, 40, was replaced after 12 minutes as he made the last of his 120 international appearances before retirement.
Highlight
Moments
32′ Goal! Japan 0, Paraguay 1. Óscar Romero (Paraguay) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Antonio Bareiro.
51′ Goal! Japan 1, Paraguay 1. Takashi Inui (Japan) right footed shot from outside the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Shinji Kagawa.
63′; Goal! Japan 2, Paraguay 1. Takashi Inui (Japan) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Shinji Kagawa.
77 ‘ Own Goal by Federico Santander, Paraguay. Japan 3, Paraguay 1.
90′ Japan 3, Paraguay 2. Richard Ortiz (Paraguay) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner.
90+1′ Japan 4, Paraguay 2. Shinji Kagawa (Japan) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.
Statistics
Line-Ups
