Shinji Kagawa
Honda was involved in all of Japan's best moments in the first half, starting with a through ball for Shinji Kagawa that the Borussia Dortmund man fired wide in the 11th minute. Iraq returned the favour four minutes later from a corner, Ahmad Ibrahim Khalaf calling Eiji Kawashima into action with a soaring header the Standard Liège custodian managed to keep out. Honda headed off the bottom of the right-hand post in the 17th minute before Yasuhito Endō, making his 150th appearance for Japan, started a sequence through the box that Kagawa should have finished on 21 minutes from close range. A minute later, though, Aguirre's men managed to put themselves on the scoreboard as Honda was taken down in the area by Ali Adnan. Honda stepped up to the spot himself, converting for his second goal of the tournament to push the holders in front.