UAE go down fighting to Japan in friendly

Mike Havenaar spared Japan’s blushes with a 69th-minute winner to give the Asian champions a 1-0 victory over the UAE in a World Cup qualifying warm-up on Thursday. The Dutch-based forward powered home a close-range header from Yuichi Komano’s cross just when the Japanese appeared to be running out of ideas in front of 42,000 fans in Niigata. Midfielder Keisuke Honda blazed just over with barely a minute gone, but that was close as Japan got in a disappointing performance from the Blue Samurai until Havenaar’s winner. “It was a relief to score,” Havenaar told reporters. “I haven’t been putting them away of late so it felt good to stick one in.” Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni made no bones about the fact there was plenty to work on before his side face Iraq in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday. “The result was important but equally important was to measure where we are before the Iraq game,” said the Italian.