RUSTENBURG, South Africa — A pair of fabulous first-half free kicks from Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo and a late strike from substitute Shinji Okazaki powered Japan to a 3-1 win over Denmark on Thursday night and into the second round of the World Cup finals.
The Japanese needed only a point to secure their passage into the last 16, but an ultimately comfortable victory in their final Group E game means they join already qualified Netherlands in the last 16, where they will meet Group F winner Paraguay in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Takeshi Okada's men wrapped up the group phase with six points, three behind the Netherlands, which won 2-1 against Cameroon.