Ghana turned out a bit more clinical to defeat World Cup-bound Japan 2-0 in a warm-up match at the Nissan Stadium, Yokohama on Wednesday.
The Black Stars, who will not be participating at the Russia tournament, shot themselves into the lead with a free-kick from the foot of Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey on 8 minutes.
Japan fought back strongly, dominating midfield play but Coach Kwasi Appiah’s men were compact in their defending.
Goalkeeper Richard Ofori showed great form as he pulled one top save after the other to deny the hosts till the halftime break.
Ghana extended their lead six minutes into the second half through Levante forward Emmanuel Boateng who was marking his debut on the day.
Boateng was impeded by onrushing Japan goalkeeper Kawashima in the penalty area and he elected himself to score with a perfect finish.
With discipline, Ghana held on to record a 2-0 victory in the 2018 edition of the Kirin Challenge Cup.
The Black Stars clash is the first of three matches that the Samurai Blue play before the showpiece in Russia next month, with Switzerland and Paraguay also coming up. Coach Akira Nishino’s Japan are readying themselves for sixth consecutive World Cup participation.
For Ghana, it serves as part of preparations towards their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying games scheduled to resume in September.
From Japan, the Black Stars are expected to head to Europe to face another World Cup-bound country, Iceland in a June 7 friendly.
Line-ups:
Ghana XI (4-2-3-1):
Richard Ofori – Andy Yiadom, Lumor Agbenyenu, Rashid Sumaila/77’ Edwin Gyasi, Nicholas Opoku – Joseph Attamah Larweh, Isaac Sackey/71’ Kassim Nuhu – Nana Ampomah, Thomas Partey, Frank Acheampong/64’ Raphael Dwamena – Emmanuel Boateng/82’ Kwasi Okyere Wriedt
Unused subs: Lawrence Ati-Zigi, Albert Adomah, Afriyie Acquah
Japan XI (3-4-2-1):
Kawashima; Yoshida, Hasebe/76’ Ideguchi, Makino; Haraguchi/46’ G. Sakai, Oshima, Yamaguchi/59’ Shibakasi, Nagatomo; Honda, Usami/46’ Kagawa; Osako
