June 03, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1429

YOKOHAMA (Japan), June 2: Japan beat Oman 3-0 to get their World Cup qualifying campaign firmly back on track on Monday.

Captain Yuji Nakazawa, Yoshito Okubo and Shunsuke Nakamura were on target in rainy Yokohama, relieving the pressure on Japan coach Takeshi Okada following a 1-0 defeat by Bahrain in March.

Japan have six points from three matches and provisionally lead Bahrain on goal difference in Group Two. The Gulf side were playing Thailand in Bangkok later on Monday.

Nakazawa powered home a header to give Japan the lead in the 10th minute before Okubo made it 2-0 with a clinical finish after 21 minutes.

Celtic midfielder Nakamura added a third goal three minutes into the second half, turning cleverly on the edge of the box and drilling a right-footed shot into the bottom corner.

Okada’s stewardship has been under intense scrutiny since Japan were beaten in Manama, leaving them level on three points with Oman before Monday’s game.

Monday’s matches were the first in a punishing run of four 2010 World Cup qualifiers in 20 days being played by the Asian nations.

Nakamura’s goal was a collector’s item coming via his less-favoured right foot.—Reuters