Japan Defeats Jordan to Avoid Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Japanese national football team will not be playing three-time champion Iran in the AFC Asian Cup quarter-final after beating Jordan 2-0 on Tuesday in Group D.
Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa scored for the defending champion.
Honda scored his third goal in three games in the 24th minutes.
With eight minutes remaining, Kagawa added a second from close range, capping Japan's third straight victory.
Japan will play the United Arab Emirates in the last eight, while Jordan was eliminated.
Japan, who won a record fourth Asian Cup by edging Australia in the 2011 final, thrashed Palestine 4-0 and beat Iraq 1-0 in its first two games and are slight favorites to lift the trophy again.