The road to Tokyo 2020: Yoshida helps Japan beat Honduras

Japan’s U24 side are gearing up for Tokyo 2020 on home soil. Maya Yoshida and his team-mates continued their preparations for the Olympic tournament with a 3-1 win over Honduras U24s in the Kirin Challenge Cup.

It took captain Yoshida, whose run-out lasted 80 minutes before Koki Machida replaced him, just 13 minutes to open the scoring at the Yodoko Sakura Stadium in Osaka, setting Hajme Moriyasu’s side on the path to victory. Ritsu Doan grabbed a goal in each half, in between which Takehiro Tomiyasu’s own goal in the 65^th minute temporarily gave Honduras hope. Next up for Japan is a clash with Spain U24s on Saturday 17 July in the final warm-up match ahead of the kick-off to the 32^nd Olympic Games against South Africa on Thursday 22 July.