Japan beat South Korea 4-1 on Wednesday to set up the Asian Women’s Cup final against hosts Australia, with the two-time champions setting the record high.
West Ham’s Riko Ueki and Tottenham’s Maika Hamano scored in the first half in Sydney, while veteran Saki Kumagai and Remina Chiba added to the tally after the break.
They had three more goals disallowed in what was shown by Nils Nielsen’s No. 8 team and a warning shot for the Matildas.
Japan meet Australia in the final at the venue on Saturday after Sam Kerr scored the winner in the hosts’ 2-1 semi-final win over defending champions China on Tuesday.
While Australia have had to fight hard to reach the final, it has been an easier journey for Japan. They have scored 28 goals in their five games so far and conceded only one.
“I’m very proud today,” Nielsen, the former coach of Denmark and Switzerland, said. “It’s not easy to switch and play a team that has so much more to offer and make it look easy. And they really did, they made this game look good and easy for us.
