OSAKA – Crystal Palace forward Daichi Kamada scored twice, as Japan rounded off their successful World Cup qualifying campaign with a 6-0 thrashing of Patrick Kluivert’s Indonesia in Osaka on June 10.

Kamada, an FA Cup winner with Palace in England this season, struck twice in the first half as already qualified Japan finished the campaign as Group C winners, scoring 30 goals in their 10 matches. Takefusa Kubo, Ryoya Morishita, Shuto Machino and substitute Mao Hosoya were also on target against Indonesia, who finished fourth in the group.

“This result was due to the players’ determination to improve their level by doing what they could to their best every day during training. The opponent also had some players down (injured), but it wasn’t that, but rather the efforts of my players, the determination that the players have that led to today’s result,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said.

“And I think it was good that the players broke out of their shells and tried to grow, not just by scoring one goal in the game, but by continuing to take the next goal and the next chance.”

Kluivert’s Indonesia, who were backed by a large travelling support in Japan, advance to a further round of play-offs with five other teams to decide two more Asian qualifiers for next year’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Japan, meanwhile, can already look forward to the World Cup in North America.

“There is still a lot we need to learn, and both the players and the whole team need to improve. I think we need to improve in all areas,” insisted Moriyasu.

The coach has set the ambitious target of winning the World Cup.

The Samurai Blue will play friendlies against teams from outside Asia over the next 12 months and Kamada is looking to learn from the experience.

“Playing against Asian teams and against the kind of European teams who will be at the World Cup is totally different. As we play these games, we will start to see a lot of areas where we need to improve. We need to come together as a team and overcome these problems when they crop up,” said the 28-year-old.

Japan have already lined up away friendlies against Mexico and the US in September and will face four as yet unnamed opponents at home before the end of the year.

The Japanese lost their unbeaten qualifying record in a 1-0 defeat away to Australia last week, with Moriyasu fielding an experimental line-up with qualification already in th...