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| 2010 FIFA World Cup |
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| Okada hails Japan spirit |
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| Japan coach Takeshi Okada praised his side's never-say-die attitude in their 1-0 win over Bahrain. (AFP) |
TOKYO –Japan’s unconventional winning goal against Bahrain in the pouring rain at Saitama Stadium on Sunday evening had head coach Takeshi Okada praising his team for their never-say-die attitude.
Atsuto Uchida’s header from outside the penalty area gave Japan the three points after the ball bounced over Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed Jaafar and into the goal.
Jaafar conceded the late winner after coming under pressure from substitute striker Seiichiro Maki while Uchida’s header was also as a result of the Kashima Antlers defender hassling the Bahrain defence.
It was this constant harrying of the visitors that pleased Okada as his side avenged their 1-0 loss to Milan Macala’s team in Manama in March.
“It was a very important game for us,” said the man who led Japan at the 1998 World Cup finals in France.
“In any football match there is a winner and a loser and I really wanted to win. The players understood that and they showed heart and spirit and they played really well.
“The most pleasing thing for me was the way we scored. All of the players can play neat and tidy football and have good technique but we scored out of desperation and that was something I wanted to see. That pleased me so much.”
The win meant Japan topped Group Two with 13 points, two more than Bahrain, although there was nothing riding on the outcome as both teams had already earned their places in the final phase of Asia’s qualifying tournament for the 2010 World Cup and the order the teams finish in the group will have no impact on the seedings for the next round.
As a result, the teams could face off again in the final phase of qualifying for South Africa and Okada is hoping his players learn from the two meetings if that proves to be the case.
“You judge a team by results,” said Okada.
“That’s the only way you can judge their level and we have won one and lost one against Bahrain. That’s good enough for now but if we play them again we need to beat them.”
Macala, by contrast, was not too downhearted by his side’s defeat, their first in this section of the qualifying campaign.
“Our aim was to qualify for the final round and we had already done that, so I wasn’t too worried about this game,” said the former Saudi Arabia and Kuwait coach.
“We have done what we wanted to do.
“The conditions today were difficult because there’s no rain in Bahrain and it was very hard for some of the players to play in these conditions.”
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