Japan beat Ivory Coast 1-0 in friendly

Yoshito Okubo was guilty of a bad miss early on in rain-lashed Toyota before Tamada showed his strike partner the way, firing home a right-wing cross from Makoto Hasebe in the 21st minute.

Ivory Coast’s best chance came in stoppage time when substitute Doumbia Seydou clipped the outside of the post from a difficult angle after late pressure from the west Africans.

Japan meet Paraguay in the final game of the three-nation Kirin Cup in Saitama on Tuesday. Ivory Coast and Paraguay drew 1-1 on Thursday.

All three sides are warming up for World Cup qualifying matches next month, although Ivory Coast and Paraguay are missing key players who did not make the trip to Japan.

“We put them under a lot of pressure and passed the ball well,” Japan coach Takeshi Okada told reporters. “We sat back a little in the second half and made a few mistakes but we did well to hang for the win.”

English-based Emmanuel Eboue and Didier Zokora worked tirelessly for Ivory Coast but the Africans lacked a killer touch in the absence of Chelsea pair Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou.

Japan goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki was rarely troubled but reacted smartly on the hour to keep out a free kick from Etienne Boka which skidded through dangerously on the wet surface.

Victory will help to lift some of the pressure Okada has been under since Japan were beaten by Bahrain in a World Cup qualifier in March.

Ivory Coast were playing their second game under new Bosnian coach Vahid Halihodzic.