Japan eased past winless Thailand 3-0 to take a big step toward the final round of qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup on Saturday.
First-half headers from Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Yuji Nakazawa and a late strike from substitute Kengo Nakamura did the damage at Rajamangala Stadium, keeping Japan firmly on course for one of the two qualifying berths from Group 2.
"We played the kind of game we needed to get a result," Japan coach Takeshi Okada said.