- Goals are the striker’s 44th and 45th for his country
- Japan unbeaten in the second round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup
- Ben Chilwell plays 90 minutes for England Under-20s in a 1-0 loss to the Czech Republic
Leicester City’s Shinji Okazaki bagged a brilliant brace on Tuesday afternoon as he helped Japan to a 6-0 2018 World Cup qualifying victory away to Afghanistan.
The in-form forward again showed the qualities that have earned him a move to the Barclays Premier League with his 44th and 45th strikes for his country.
Former Manchester United man Shinji Kagawa opened the scoring before team-mate Masato Morishige made it 2-0 at half-time.
Kagawa added another after the break before two goals in three minutes from Okazaki took the game out of Afghanistan’s reach. His first was a tap-in for 4-0 but his second was a brilliant volley while under pressure to add an emphatic fifth.
Keisuke Honda made it 6-0 with fewer than 20 minutes remaining and that was how it would end, with Japan moving onto seven points from their three fixtures so far in the second round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
With Okazaki's national team involvement over for now, he will return to Leicester to join his team-mates ahead of a crucial clash against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.