SAITAMA ¨C National team manager Vahid Halilhodzic believes Japan owes Singapore a debt of gratitude for providing the wake-up call that fueled Thursday¡¯s World Cup qualifying win over Cambodia.
Japan beat Cambodia 3-0 at Saitama Stadium to pick up its first victory on the road to Russia 2018, 2? months after opening its campaign with a shock 0-0 draw at home to Singapore, then ranked 154th in the world.
Japan dominated Cambodia ¡ª ranked even lower than Singapore at 180 ¡ª but had to wait until the 28th minute before Keisuke Honda broke the deadlock and Maya Yoshida and Shinji Kagawa went on to add second-half goals.
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