Leeds United star shines in statement World Cup win to set up Elland Road showdown
Two Leeds united favourites will now go head-to-head in their next fixture.
Leeds United midfielder Ao Tanaka enjoyed an impressive performance overnight as Japan beat Tunisia 4-0 in their second World Cup game.
Whites star Tanaka had to be patient for his first appearance in the tournament, watching from the bench last week as Japan drew 2-2 with the Netherlands. A meeting with Tunisia was likely to suit the Leeds man better and he started alongside Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada at the Estadio Monterrey in Mexico.
Tanaka played an important role in Japan’s well-worked opening goal, which came after just four minutes. The Elland Road favourite received a pass from the right around 20 yards from goal, spun and fed it out to left-back Keito Nakamura, whose cross was finished off by Kamada.
He then had a great view of Ayase Ueda’s long-range effort to make it 2-0, having burst forward into the box. The 27-year-old’s run opened up space for his compatriot to arrow a right-footed strike into the far corner with Japan well worth their 2-0 half-time lead.
Tanaka came close to scoring early in the second-half, his edge-of-the-box effort dragged inches wide of the post, before playing another key role in the build-up to a third on 69 minutes. The Leeds man gathered possession between his centre-backs and punched a great pass into Ueda, whose flicked pass sent through Junya Ito to score.
Striker Ueda made it 4-0 on 83 minutes, grabbing his second goal of the game with a looping header from Kaishū Sano’s cross. Japan saw out the final minutes in comfort and Tanaka saw out the entire game.
The victory leaves Japan second in Group F, level on four points with leaders the Netherlands. Ronald Koeman’s side played a few hours earlier overnight, thumping Sweden 5-1 on a difficult night for Tanaka’s Leeds teammate Gabriel Gudmundsson.
With the Netherlands rounding off their group stage campaign against whipping boys Tunisia, Tanaka and Gudmundsson are now set for a final-game showdown on Friday to claim second place and automatic qualification. Japan only need a draw to retain their current position while Sweden will need to win.
All hope will not be over for the loser, however, with eight of the 12 third-place teams across all groups also progressing to the last-32. A draw would likely be enough for Sweden to be among that group while three points might also be okay, but no one will want to take the risk.