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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Soccer - Inui and Kagawa set up win to boost Japan's World Cup mood

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Japan vs Paraguay - Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria - June 12, 2018 Japan's Takashi Inui celebrates scoring their second goal with team mates REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

(Reuters) - Japan ended their World Cup warm-up on a high, coming from behind to defeat Paraguay 4-2 in Austria on Tuesday in a game that burst into life in the dying minutes.

Akira Nishino's team managed just three shots at the Tivoli-Neu stadium in Innsbruck, yet finished with four goals, courtesy of a brace from Takashi Inui, an own goal by Paraguay's Federico Santander and a stoppage-time effort from Shinji Kagawa.

Eibar's Inui had set up the victory with two second-half goals, both assisted by Borussia Dortmund's Kagawa, after Oscar Romero had given the South Americans a 32nd-minute lead.

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Japan vs Paraguay - Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria - June 12, 2018 Japan's Takashi Inui in action with Paraguay's Alan Max Benitez REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Richard Ortiz pulled one back for Paraguay on 90 minutes before Kagawa crowned an influential performance with Japan's fourth a minute later.

The result ensured a bright finish to Japan's preparation for the World Cup in Russia, following 2-0 defeats to both Switzerland and Ghana.

They open their campaign in Group H on June 19 against another South American side, Colombia, in Saransk before taking on Senegal and Poland.

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Japan vs Paraguay - Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria - June 12, 2018 Japan's Takashi Inui celebrates scoring their first goal with team mates REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

(Reporting by Neville Dalton; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Japan vs Paraguay - Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria - June 12, 2018 Japan's Takashi Inui reacts REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
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