Japan Knock off Trinidad and Tobago

August 9th, 2006 | by: WC Bob | View Comments

In a warm up for next week’s Asian Cup qualifier against Yemen, Japan defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 in a friendly played in Tokyo. Alessandro Santos scored twice for Brazil, I mean Japan, giving new coach Ivica Osim a win in his first match at the helm of Japan.

“Generally speaking, it was good as the first match,” Osim said following the match. “By running more, Japan should be able to compete better with physically larger players from foreign countries.”

Both sides featured teams that hardly resembled the squads that bowed out in the first round of the World Cup this year.

Mark your calendars. A week from today there are a whole slew of friendlies as teams get ready for Euro 2008 and as we inch towards qualifying for South Africa 2010.

For more footie fun, head on over to The Offside.