NEWS

Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni appeared satisfied with his side’s preparations for Tuesday night’s third-round qualifying tie against Tajikistan at Nagai Stadium in Osaka (kickoff at 7:45 p.m.).
    “We played a friendly and have prepared well. If we can play well tomorrow, the result will come to us,” he said on Monday following his side’s final tune-up session at the stadium in Osaka.

    The Italian boss indicated that he has studied Tuesday’s opponents through their recent games in the qualifiers – a 1-0 loss each to Uzbekistan and DPR Korea – as well as their matches against Syria in the second round (a 2-1 loss away and a 4-0 loss at home).
    Tajikistan qualified for the third round after Syria were disqualified for fielding ineligible players during those games.
    Japan currently share the Group C lead with Uzbekistan on four points from one win and one draw, while Tajikistan are placed at the bottom of the table with no points.

    Zaccheroni commented: “When I look at their previous two matches, they didn’t give away so many chances and lost both games 1-0. That indicates it won’t be an easy game for us.
    “They [Tajikistan] will probably come out strongly and close down the space around us. It will be down to us to find the space to attack.”
    Asked about scoring, Zaccheroni replied: “We shouldn’t worry about it too much as we have been creating a good number of chances. But we haven’t had enough precision to score. The important thing is to score on the chances we have.”

    Japan only managed one goal in each of their last three matches: a 1-0 win over DPR Korea and a 1-1 draw at Uzbekistan in World Cup qualifying ties in September, and Friday’s 1-0 win over Vietnam.
“We know the significance of this game, and our players played hard against Vietnam, keeping their motivation high. I have a faith in my players,” Zaccheroni said.

    Meanwhile, Tajikistan interim coach Alimzhon Rafikov said he was planning on not making life easy for Japan.
    “We want to give Japan as much trouble as possible,” he stated. “It is a great pleasure for me to play against Zaccheroni’s side. He is well-respected at the coaching school I went to in Moscow and I personally admire him.
    “The current Japan team is similar to Italy. They are sophisticated – especially those who play in Europe – and solid in defense.”
Rafikov, who came to the position in late August but also coaches at Esteghlal Dushanbe, said he formed his squad for the Japan game around players with physical strength and defensive ability.
    “We are growing game by game and this is our biggest test and a big opportunity for us to develop our game,” he noted.
    Japan and Tajikistan have not played before.