Takumi Minamino hit a brace and Junya Ito returned with a goal and two assists as Japan demolished China 7-0 at home to begin their 2026 World Cup final-round Asian qualifiers on Thursday.Goals from Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma gave the home team a 2-0 lead at the break at Saitama Stadium, where late goals from Daizen Maeda and Takefusa Kubo completed the rout in the Group C opener, a fixture that Japan had lost in their last two final-round campaigns."The players prepared well, making use of the bitter experience from the past," manager Hajime Moriyasu said. "Only one game is out of the wa…READ FULL ARTICLE
