Japan National Team: 2000 Asian Cup
Japan 8 - 1 Uzbekistan

Date: Oct 17, 2000 Location: Sidon, Lebanon Japan 8 5 1H 0 3 2H 1 1 Uzbekistan Morishima (7') Nishizawa (14') Takahara (18') Takahara (20') Nishizawa (25') Nishizawa (49') Takahara (57') Kitajima (79') Scoring Lucian (29') -- Cautions -- Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Yuji Nakazawa, Ryuzo Morioka, Toshihiro Hattori, Junichi Inamoto (Shigeyoshi Mochizuki 79'), Tomokazu Myojin, Hiroshi Nanami, Shunsuke Nakamura, Hiroaki Morishima (Shinji Ono 54'), Akinori Nishizawa, Naohiro Takahara (Hideaki Kitajima 58'). TBA

If Japan's opening Asian Cup match against Saudi Arabia was a wake-up call for the rest of Asia, their second clash against Uzbekistan was a defiant challenge. With a rush of attacking ferocity that they have never managed to repeat, Japan overwhelmed the Uzbeks and slammed home five goals in the first 25 minutes. Both Naohiro Takahara and Akinori Nishizawa completed their hat tricks in the second half, and then the team coasted for 30 minutes to a lop-sided 8-1 victory.