Striker Ayase Ueda bagged his long-awaited maiden international goal Thursday as Japan romped to a 6-0 friendly victory over a visiting El Salvador side reduced to 10 men after just three minutes.
The lopsided result at Central Japan's Toyota Stadium marked the first win for Hajime Moriyasu's men since last year's Qatar World Cup and followed a draw and a loss in a pair of March friendlies on home soil.
Scottish Premiership-winning Celtic duo Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi returned to national duty for the first time since their controversial omissions from the World Cup squad. Hatate started in midfield, while Furuhashi came off the bench in the second half.
Already down a goal on Shogo Taniguchi's first-minute header, the Central Americans saw defender Ronald Rodriguez red-carded for crash tackling 24-year-old Cercle Brugge attacker Ueda, who calmly converted the ensuing penalty.
World No. 75 El Salvador unsurprisingly had few opportunities the rest of the way, attempting just one shot on target compared to 12 from 20th-ranked Japan.
"Our positive play gave birth to a good flow for us," Moriyasu said. "We played well right from the start, which led to this kind of win."
Ueda, who made his international debut under Moriyasu at the 2019 Copa America, was joined by Taniguchi and Keito Nakamura in notching their first Samurai Blue goals.
Center-back Taniguchi rose high to head in off a free kick from Takefusa Kubo, who was in the thick of the action early. The Real Sociedad attacker spurned a pair of chances before curling in Japan's third with an assist from Kaoru Mitoma.
Brighton winger Mitoma was unable to get his own shot past the fingertips of El Salvador keeper Mario Gonzalez late in the half, but Ritsu Doan was there to poke the ball over the line and give the hosts a 4-0 lead at the break.
Ueda had a goal waved off for offside before Nakamura, who debuted as a late substitute against Uruguay in March, made it 5-0 in the 60th minute.
Scottish Premiership Player of the Year and leading scorer Furuhashi came off the bench in the 65th minute and headed the final goal eight minutes later.
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