Toko Koga bagged a brace for Japan as they breezed into the semi-finals of the Women’s Asian Cup after a 7-0 victory over Philippines in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Back in the starting XI for her nation, making her third appearance of the tournament, the young centre back headed home from a corner in the third minute of injury time in the first half to double Japan’s lead in the contest after Mina Tanaka had broken the deadlock just three minutes before.
After Remina Chiba and Manaka Matsukubo added to their advantage after the restart before Toko netted her second of the game with another close-range header in the 75th-minute.
The excellent display from Japan was then wrapped up by a further two goals from Momoko Tanikawa and Riko Ueki, emphatically securing their place in the final four of the competition while taking their goal tally to 24 in four games.
Toko completed the full match while Maika Hamano was an unused substitute.
While the victory sees progression to the latter stages of the Women’s Asian Cup, it also sees her nation book a spot at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil next summer.
Japan will now face South Korea in the last four on Wednesday while Clare Hunt’s Australia will take on China PR in the other semi-final tie on Tuesday.