Soccer-Tunisia brush aside Japan in Kirin Cup final with second-half show

By Michael Church

(Reuters) - Tunisia struck three times in the second half to hand fellow World Cup qualifiers Japan a 3-0 defeat in the final of the Kirin Cup invitational competition in Osaka on Tuesday.

Japan's Sampdoria defender Maya Yoshia was at fault for all three goals as Mohammed Ali Ben Romdhane gave the Tunisians the lead with a penalty in the 55th minute before Ferjani Sassi doubled their advantage with 14 minutes remaining.

Issam Jebali then stole possession from Yoshida before hitting the third in the third minute of added time.

The game was the last of four friendlies for Japan scheduled for the current international window, with convincing victories over Paraguay and Ghana recorded either side of a narrow loss against Brazil.

Hajime Moriyasu fielded a similar lineup to the one that lost to the Brazilians after seeing his second string defeat Ghana 4-1, but the more experienced campaigners struggled.

Sassi headed over the bar in the 13th minute while Takumi Minamino's air shot when he had a clear sight of goal ensured the opening 30 minutes ended scoreless.

Daichi Kamada was guilty of a glaring miss 10 minutes before the break when he was found at the far post by Junya Ito's low centre from the right but the Eintracht Frankfurt man somehow managed to steer the ball wide of an empty net from close range.

That was to prove a costly miss for Moriyasu's side as, 10 minutes into the second half, the Tunisians took the lead.

Anis Ben Slimane played the ball behind a retreating Yoshida and the central defender upended Taha Khenissin as he chased back towards goal, leaving Ben Romdhane to slot in from the spot.

Yoshida was caught out again with less than 15 minutes remaining when his hesitancy allowed Youssef