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| 2010 FIFA World Cup |
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| Macala’s Bahrain ready for Japan |
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| The friendlies against Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia will help Milan Macala's Bahrain to prepare for their key encounter against Australia. |
MANAMA: Despite leading his side to a 1-0 home win over Japan in March, Bahrain coach Milan Macala believes that his side are still underdogs for Saturday’s 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Manama against the three-time Asian champions.
An A’ala Hubail goal at the National Stadium six months ago gave the Gulf side a vital victory that helped propel them through to the final round of the Asian qualifiers along with the Japanese.
The two teams have been drawn together once again in Group One for the final round but Macala feels that the pressure is still on the Japanese to get a result from their opening match.
“Of course, Japan must beat us,” said the Czech. “We are a small country among the best 10 teams in Asia and our opponents are a strong team, number one in Asia.
“But I always try to take three points whenever I play. I know that we are not the favorites but we can try and with good concentration and preparation, we can take on any team including Japan.”
According to Macala, the win in March has given his side a psychological edge for their third competitive meeting in six months against the Japanese.
“It’s very important. Everybody is saying that it’s not possible to beat Japan but it’s possible with good concentration.
“In football, it’s a matter of how the teams play. Sometimes with one mistake the game is over.”
Bahrain are missing midfielder Abdulla Baba Fatadi who is serving a three-game suspension after being sent off against Thailand in a World Cup qualifier in June.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada admitted that the loss in March was a regrettable result but has pledged to make no major changes to his team’s style this weekend.
“Bahrain know how we play,” said Okada. “They have played with more or less the same players for a long time and have improved their standard, with good collective play in defence and attack.
“But I believe we can stick to our own style and cope with them. We want to play to our full potential and show what we can do on Saturday.”
Japan have trained in Manama since Tuesday with four Europe-based players – Shunsuke Nakamura of Celtic, Daisuke Matsui of St Etienne, Junichi Inamoto of Eintracht Frankfurt and Makoto Hasebe of VfL Wolfsburg.
It marks the first time that Inamoto, who last appeared for Japan against Switzerland a year ago, will be playing under Okada.
“Ina has good physical strength and skills and can be a force for us once he gels with the rest of the team,” Okada said.
“The Europe-based players look in good shape and since we began working together, I haven’t seen any particular problem with them.
“All the players want to show that they are the ones who can do the job and that has helped us to create a good atmosphere in the team.”
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