Ghana suffer loss to Japan in friendly

Ghana suffered a second half setback as Japan scored a hat-trick of goals overcome the Black Stars 3-1 in a friendly in Yokohama on Tuesday.

A first half goal by winger Frank Acheampong separated both sides at the Yokohama International Stadium until the 50th minute when the Blue Samurai equalised through Shinji Kagawa before goals by Yasuhito Endo and Keisuke Honda won the game for the Alberto Zaccheroni's side.

The work-out provided Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah with much insight about his team ahead their two-leg World Cup qualifying play-off.

The Black Stars started off at a high pace, matching their opponents before a packed stadium dominated by home fans.

Ghana broke from a counter with Samuel Inkoom and Majeed Warris exchanging passes before Acheampong latched onto the ball and his strike in the 23rd minute went off the body of an opponent before it flew to the other side of Japan goalkeeper Kawashima Eiji.

The Black Stars took their slim lead into the break. Both sides returned from recess with the tempo of the game a bit slow.

Five minutes after the restart, Japan drew level when Kagawa drove a shot from outside the box into the bottom corner of goalkeeper Razak Braimah's goal.

Ghana's bench made a raft of substitutions with Daniel Opare, Jonathan Mensah, Rabiu Mohammed, Solomon Asante and Mahatma Otoo all coming on.

Japan, started to dictate the pace of the game as they enjoyed greater possession.

Endo put them in front for the first time, curling his shot with beat Braimah for the second goal in the 64th minute before Honda headed in a cross seven minutes later to seal victory.

　
Ghana line-up: Razak Braimah, Samuel Inkoom/Daniel Opare, Richard Kissi Boateng, Rashid Sumaila/Jonathan Mensah, John Boye, Harrison Afful/Rabiu Mohammed, Albert Adomah/Solomon Asante, Yussif Chibsah, Abdul Majeed Waris, Christian Atsu/Mahatma Otoo, Frank Acheampong.