Tanaka on song at Club World Cup

Junya Tanaka was relieved and excited after scoring in Kashiwa Reysol’s 2-0 win over Auckland City at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Playing in his first international competition, Tanaka added another chapter to his breakout year in which he contributed 13 goals to Reysol’s J-League championship.

The 24-year-old forward netted in the 36th minute of the match at the Toyota Stadium, with Masato Kudo adding a second three minutes later.

“Lately I haven’t put many in, so tonight I really wanted to score,” the former Jutendo University player told reporters after the match.

“(Auckland City’s) defence was a bit scattered, we should have scored more.”

Tanaka went on to describe how he beat Auckland defender Alex Feneridis before unleashing his shot past goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley.

“I bumped into the defender and used his body to facilitate my turn. I had a feeling it might work,” he said.

“The angle was very narrow, but I am happy I went for it.”

Team-mate Kudo, scorer of Reysol’s second goal, noted the change in the team’s confidence following Tanaka’s strike.

“It was a great relief when we scored the first goal,” he said.

“Our confidence grew and we got the result we wanted. Now we feel good and we can look forward to the next game.”

Reysol goalkeeper Takanori Sugeno, who made two key saves in the second half to keep Auckland off the scoresheet, said the J-League champions were in the middle of a miracle run.

“If you would have asked me one year ago, I could have never imagined playing in a tournament like this,” the veteran goalkeeper said.

“But we have grown a lot and now we want to do our best.”

Kashiwa now take on Mexican club Monterrey in the quarter-finals.