Maya Yoshida given fitting farewell as Japan narrowly beat Iceland in friendly

The hosts began slowly in the stifling heat, with Zion Suzuki forced into an early save by Iceland’s Dagur Thórhallsson, before veteran defender Maya Yoshida was substituted with a worrying injury after 14 minutes. With Iceland offering only a limited attacking threat, Hajime Moriyasu’s side gradually worked their way into the contest before the break and looked most dangerous down the left flank, where Keito Nakamura had curled a shot wide early on, before his header from a Takefusa Kubo cross was tipped over by Hákon Valdimarsson later in the half.

The Brentford goalkeeper proved a persistent obstacle for the hosts, dealing with a Takehiro Tomiyasu volley from the edge of the box before half-time to ensure the scores remained level at the interval.

Japan looked to raise their intensity in the second half, but Valdimarsson again stood firm to bravely thwart Ko Itakura from six yards out after he was found by a Yukinari Sugawara corner. Despite posing only an intermittent threat late in the game, Japan kept persevering and finally got their reward with three minutes remaining when substitute Ogawa nodded Sugawara’s cross past a frustrated Valdimarsson.

A victory in Tokyo means Japan are now unbeaten in seven matches since September, while they have also kept five consecutive clean sheets. Next up for Moriyasu’s side is their Group F opener against the Netherlands on June 14 in Texas. Iceland, who missed out on World Cup qualification, are now winless in five games ahead of a meeting with world champions Argentina.