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While pleased with the result, Oiwa has demanded even more as he felt Japan did not take full advantage of their opportunities against Paraguay.

The South Americans were reduced to 10 men shortly after going behind to Shunsuke Mito’s opener in the 19th minute but Japan could not capitalise on their advantage until midway through the second half.”If we look at the margin, you could say this was the ideal first game but we have to take into account that the opponents were playing with one man less for most of the game,” said Oiwa.

“We were able to hold the ball more because of the numbers but at times we made negative choices and that needs to be corrected so that we can dominate with better quality.

“For now, it’s all about the next game and I want the players to remember that there’s only two days between matches but we will go into it with full determination.”

Mito added to the lead in the 63rd minute before the floodgates truly opened for Japan with Rihito Yamamoto and Shota Fujio (two) adding their names to the scoresheet to give the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 champions an emphatic win.

The other Group D match saw Mali and Israel share a 1-1 draw, giving Japan a two-point advantage heading into the second set of fixtures on Saturday.