Football: Japan gets Asian Cup wake-up call from Turkmenistan

The Samurai Blue got a reality check Wednesday when a lowly-rated Turkmenistan team pushed them harder than expected in the teams' Asian Cup group stage opener in the United Arab Emirates.Japan's narrow 3-2 victory over the Group F underdogs, spearheaded by a go-ahead brace from Yuya Osako, left the four-time Asian Cup champions recalibrating their expectations."I didn't think it would be so tough," said midfielder Genki Haraguchi, who helped set up two of Japan's goals.In the first half at Abu Dhabi's Al Nahyan Stadium, Japan focused their attacking forays down the center, with Haraguchi a…READ FULL ARTICLE