Sebastian Eguren, Ignacio Gonzalez and Sebastian Abreu netted second-half goals Wednesday as Uruguay came from behind to beat Japan 3-1 in a friendly.
Japan took the lead in the 48th minute through an own goal, only to allow Uruguay to capitalize on defensive lapses and give coach Takeshi Okada much food for thought ahead of the start of the Asian final-round qualifiers next month.
"I think this 3-1 result was inevitable if you look at how our side played," Okada said.
"The (Japan) players couldn't beat them in one-on-one situations and so it proved though we tried hard to keep ourselves organized. Uruguay made us realize that what's important is to go forward."