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Darwin Nunez during the MEIJI YASUDA J.LEAGUE World Challenge 2025 presented by The Nippon Foundation match between Yokohama F Marinos and Liverpool at Nissan Stadium on July 30, 2025 (Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Liverpool concluded their two-game tour of Asia with a 3-1 win over Yokohama F Marinos in Japan on Wednesday night.

A total of 67,032 turned out at the Nissan Stadium to watch the game itself and the Reds turned it around after initially falling behind in the second period through Asahi Uenaka's goal.

After Florian Wirtz had equalised, it was Trey Nyoni who put the finishing touch on Jeremie Frimpong's cross before Rio Ngumoha made it 3-1 late on with an eye-catching strike.

It brings the curtain down on a successful two weeks for the Reds, who had earlier visited Hong Kong for the first time since 2017, losing to AC Milan at the Kai Tak Stadium.

READ MORE:Liverpool player ratings as Rio Ngumoha sparkles and Florian Wirtz shines vs YokohamaREAD MORE:Luis Diaz speaks on Liverpool exit as he explains Bayern Munich move and pays tribute to Diogo Jota

The ECHO was on the tour throughout and was in Yokohama to run the rule over proceedings on Wednesday evening.

Nunez confusion

There was some confusion as to whether or not Darwin Nunez was cleared for action at the Nissan Stadium on Wednesday night.

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The Uruguay striker sat out Saturday's friendly defeat to AC Milan in Hong Kong but Arne Slot had indicated that he would be OK to feature in Japan.

And while Nunez was named on the team sheet when the club's official graphic dropped around 90 minutes before kick-off, the Reds' No.9 was left off the papers that were distributed to the media ahead of the game by staff.

It led to some confused looks and questions as to whether or Nunez would actually be involved.

The emergence of the man himself for the second half dispelled the doubts and the striker, judging by the noise reserved for him, maintains a huge amount of support in the Japanese wing of the Liverpool supporters' club.

The hometown hero

It's something of a rarity for Mohamed Salah to be overshadowed at a Liverpool appearance but even the 'Egyptian King' couldn't quite compete with the ovation reserved for Japan national captain Wataru Endo on the night.

Surely Yokohama's most famous footballing son, Endo's name was loudly cheered when it appeared alongside an accompanying image on the big screen before the game, outstripping the rest of the Reds' squad for sheer decibel levels.

And that was nothing compared to the reaction from the fans inside the ground when he was shown on the substitutes' bench shortly after the second half got underway.

He was given a standing ovation when he emerged for Virgil van Dijk shortly before the hour mark and was also saluted at full time when he was encouraged by his team-mates to hoist aloft the no doubt prestigious J-League World Challenge shield during the lap of honour.

Endo is a national hero in Japan and they are quite rightly very proud of him here in his hometown of Yokohama.

Ngumoha is a star-in-the-making

On the day that Luis Diaz was officially waved off and confirmed as a Bayern Munich player, it didn't take long to find out why those at Liverpool are relaxed about losing the Colombia international.

It's still fledgling days in the career of young Rio Ngumoha, but it's easy to see why there is such excitement about the former Chelsea teenager.

The 16-year-old tormented the Japanese side's defenders throughout his second half cameo here and had the fans constantly on the edge of their seats with his willingness to dribble every chance he got.

After wowing the crowd with his now trademark style, he really showcased why there is such excitement around him late on when he collected a pass from Andy Robertson before driving at the opposition defenders and finishing with aplomb to wrap the game up.

There will undoubtedly be tougher tests to come and it will be some time before Ngumoha will consider himself a fully-fledged member of the Premier League winners' squad but this was another mouthwatering cameo.

If he continues in this vein for the remainder of the summer programme, Arne Slot will have little choice but to make him a regular around the first team.

Wirtz earns pay-day

Florian Wirtz's player-of-the-match performance came with the quite the unexpected bonus for the Germany international at full time.

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The former Bayer Leverkusen star was so smooth and silky at times in possession and he also showed his work ethic too, constantly on the move out of possession to find space for passes from team-mates.

He also added his first Reds goal to his display, dispatching neatly after good work from Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah and as a result of his performance Wirtz was asked to perform some post-match media duties on the pitch.

After delivering his assessment of the game itself and an update on where he feels his fitness levels are at the moment, he was also handed a giant cheque as a reward to the sum of one million Japanese yen, which is around £5,000.
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