(IN THE PHOTO: Honda is put through his paces) 
MILAN – Keisuke Honda scored the opening goal for Japan in their final Asian Cup group game against Jordan. Kagawa netted the second for a 2-0 win which saw Japan top the group with maximum points.
They will now play UAE in the quarter-finals of the competition on Friday. It has been a positive tournament for Honda so far with three goals from three outings while the team have yet to concede a goal, scoring seven overall.
Honda said this ahead of the match: "We know that Palestine could lose by a big margin against Iraq and for this reason we have to take to the pitch very focused against Jordan. By continuing with our work, the quality of our game will improve. It doesn’t matter if it came from the penalty spot, what counts for me is to have scored the decisive goal in the win against Iraq. It’s always important to score in a big match and I am always very attentive to these aspects."