Honda carries Japan to 1-0 victory over Cameroon

BLOEMFONTEIN (Reuters) - Keisuke Honda carried Japan to their first World Cup finals victory on foreign soil when he scored the goal which beat Cameroon 1-0 in a Group E match on Monday. Honda netted in the 39th minute, scoring from close range at the far post after the Cameroon defence failed to clear a Daisuke Matsui cross from the right. Japan's only two previous victories in the finals came in 2002 as joint hosts of the tournament with South Korea. Japan joined Netherlands on three points at the head of Group E. The Dutch beat Denmark 2-0 earlier on Monday at Johannesburg's Soccer City. (Writing by Paul Radford in Johannesburg; Editing by Jon Bramley)