Makoto Hasebe was sent off for elbowing Uzbek captain Server Djeparov with two minutes remaining but Japan held on.

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First Daisuke Matsui's clever flick struck the legs of Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, and moments later Makoto Hasebe raced into the box but fired narrowly wide.

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

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