Although both sides fielded only their domestic league players, the result piles more pressure on Japan boss Takeshi Okada, two months before the big kick-off in South Africa.
The Serbians were dangerous from the off, when midfielder Radosav Petrovic played in Mrda, who beat three defenders before firing a sizzling shot to open the scoring in the 15th minute after hitting the post with an earlier attempt.
Mrda put Serbia two up in the 23rd minute, quickly collecting a rebound off Japanese goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki before striking home.
Japan had a couple of chances in the first half, but forward Shinji Okazaki's shot missed in the 21st minute, while Yuzo Kurihara's header went over the bar a minute later.
The visitors made it 3-0 when midfielder Nemanja Tomic netted a free-kick from distance in the 60th minute.
"We didn't have enough time for preparation, but I think we showed the level of Serbian football in today's game," said assistant coach Radovan Curcic, who was standing in for Radomir Antic.
"All of our players are from the Serbian league, but I think my players proved that they can compete against the current players of the top teams," he added.
Most of the Serbian players have never represented their country before.
Japan coach Okada said: "Our defense was unstable from the beginning. That was the cause of our defeat." "They were stable in the second half, but I feel that we must play more aggressively when we are behind," he added.
It was Japan's last game before they announce their final squad in mid-May for the World Cup, where Serbia will play Germany, Australia and Ghana in Group D, while Japan meet the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon in Group E.
Marseille routs Sochaux 3-0 to take lead in France
Marseille thrashed Sochaux 3-0 to go two points clear at the top of the French league on Wednesday.
Argentina defender Gabriel Heinze headed in a corner from Lucho Gonzalez in the ninth minute.
Hatem Ben Arfa doubled Marseille’s lead in the 27th with a penalty after fullback Yassin Mikari had fouled Laurent Bonnart.
Bakari Kone sealed the win with a lob in stoppage time.
Marseille earned its fourth straight victory in all competitions to move to 59 points from 30 matches, two clear of Lyon, Montpellier and Auxerre—which have all played an extra match.
Sochaux remained in 14th place with 37 points.
The match had been originally postponed last year to help Marseille prepare for a Champions League game.
Italian match-fixing scandal surfaces again
Meantime, Italian Football Federation officials are awaiting developments in a criminal court case in Naples as they consider opening a new investigation into the match-fixing scandal that rocked the national sport four years ago.
For several days, Italian media have printed alleged phone-tap conversations linking Inter Milan and other clubs to the scandal.
Inter was awarded the 2006 Serie A title after Juventus was stripped of the honor and relegated to Serie B due to its role in the scandal.
The Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Wednesday that Italian Football Federation president Giancarlo Abete and federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi met on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
It’s unclear, however, if the statute of limitations in the case has expired.
The new phone taps came to light as part of the defense of former Juventus executive Luciano Moggi in the Naples case, with Moggi arguing that all the teams were in contact with refereeing officials.
In the purported conversations—as printed in the Gazzetta—Inter president Massimo Moratti is heard talking with referee selector Paolo Bergamo about the match officials for an Italian Cup game that Inter went on to win 3-1 over Bologna in January 2005.
Moratti has rejected the new allegations as “ridiculous and shameful,” while Bergamo maintains that he “always spoke regularly with all the club presidents.”
Juventus issued a statement Wednesday, saying it was watching the Naples case closely and it “expects that the organs of justice will secure equal treatment for all.”
Another former Juventus executive, Antonio Giraudo, already has received a three-year sentence from the Naples court on charges of criminal association aimed at committing sports fraud.
Moggi and Giraudo were banned from football for five years by a sports court for influencing the outcome of matches. They deny wrongdoing.
Juventus was stripped of its 2005 and ’06 Serie A titles and relegated to the second division with a nine-point penalty. It immediately won promotion back to Serie A.
The scandal was the biggest corruption case in the history of Italian football. Besides Juventus, three other big clubs—AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina—were penalized, as were Reggina and Arezzo.
