Substitute Junichi Inamoto's late strike helped Japan come from behind to edge Ghana in an entertaining friendly at Galgenwaard Stadium in Utrecht.

Ghana, who secured their place at next year's World Cup on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Sudan, started well and went ahead in the 31st minute when a Sulley Muntari corner hit the hand of Yuto Nagatomo and the referee awarded a penalty which Asamoah Gyan converted.

The African side went further ahead early in the second half when Gyan latched onto a long kick from substitute goalkeeper William Amamoo, shook off defender Yuji Nakazawa and fired home.

Japan responded in the 54th minute when Kengo Nakamura picked up a loose ball and struck into the net.

The East Asians then created a good chance five minutes later when Kengo Nakamura met a Marcus Tulio Tanaka pass in the box only to be called offside.

But it was Ghana who went further ahead in the 67th minute when Matthew Amoah latched on to a cross and rounded the goalkeeper before slotting home.

Japan coach Takeshi Okada brought on Keiji Tamada and Keisuke Honda midway through the second half and it proved a pivotal move as the balance of the game began to swing their way.

They reduced the deficit in the 78th minute when Tamada ran onto a Nagatomo pass down the left side of the box and fired home before Shinji Okazaki connected with an Inamoto cross just a minute later and headed the ball into the back of the net to level the scores.

Inamoto then struck a dramatic winner to cap a fine fightback from Japan.

"We went behind at half-time with a penalty but I told our players at the break that this would be a good test for us and I wanted them to play without fear. They responded well," said Japan coach Okada.

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac hailed the game as an important workout for both sides and lavished praise upon his side's opponents.

"This was a very good and very interesting game as part of our preparations for next year's World Cup," he said.

"We played well for most parts of the game and scored three goals but we lost in the end.

"My team were a little bit tired but that cannot be an excuse.

"Japan are a quality team and are going to play very well in the World Cup. They know what they want and they are very dangerous."