Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Belo Horizonte: Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni put the Asian champions’ disappointing 2-1 defeat to Mexico on Saturday down in part to their exertions in the 4-3 loss to Italy in their previous FIFA Confederations Cup fixture.
The four-time AFC Asian Cup winners put in an outstanding performance in Thursday’s classic but were a shadow of that side as Japan were outplayed for most of the match by the Central Americans.
Javier Hernandez, a team-mate of AFC Asian International Player of the Year Shinji Kagawa at English Premier League champions Manchester United (both pictured), scored twice but missed a last-minute penalty while Stuttgart striker Shinji Okazaki scored a late consolation for Japan.
“Mexico were fitter than us and controlled possession better but our game against Italy was exhausting, which is why we weren’t as good today,” Zaccheroni said at the post-match press conference.
Despite losing all three matches, having also lost 3-0 to Brazil in the Confederations’ Cup curtain-raiser, Zaccheroni was keen to focus on the positive aspects from Japan’s participation in the competition saying:
“The tournament has helped us to gain more international experience, which was something we were lacking, so overall we can look back positively on our time here.
“I really wanted to pick up points at the tournament but we didn’t manage it. From now on I’m going to request friendlies against top teams, like the ones we faced here, because that’ll help us improve even further.”
Photo: AFP