Japanese star Keisuke Honda led Japan's attack but the Blue Samurai lost 5-3 to Paraguay on a penalty shootout in the World Cup last-16 match. The CSKA Moscow midfielder, who scored two goals and set up another in the group stage, played as lone frontman for the fourth straight game with support from J-League forward Yoshito Okubo and Grenoble's Daisuke Matsui.
An inconclusive first phase continued after half-time despite Honda's tireless runs up and down the pitch. In the 71st minute, Honda fed a through pass to substitute forward Shinji Okazaki in the box. But the prolific Shimizu S-Pulse forward, who had scored against Denmark on a Honda cross, could only hit his effort into a Paraguay defender.
Honda received his first yellow card of his World Cup debut tournament in stoppage time for handling the ball in midfield before the game headed into extra-time at 0-0.
Line-Ups:
Paraguay: Justo Villar, Antolin Alcaraz, Paulo Da Silva, Claudio Morel Rodriguez, Carlos Bonet, Nestor Ortigoza (Edgar Barretto 75'), Cristian Riveros, Enrique Vera, Edgar Benitez (Nelson Valdes 59'), Roque Santa Cruz (Oscar Cardozo 91'), Lucas Barrios
Japan: Eiji Kawashima, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yuji Nakazawa, Yugo Nagatomo, Yuichi Komano, Yuki Abe (Kengo Nakamura 80'), Yasuhito Endo, Makoto Hasebe, Yoshito Okubo (Keiji Tamada 105'), Keisuke Honda, Daisuke Matsui (Shinji Okazaki 65')
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