On Tuesday, Japan and Syria advanced to the final stage of qualofications as Group E winners. Read the details below.
According to Four Four Two, the Bosnian coach of Japan's team, Vahid Halilhodzic, revealed that as the Asian giant aims to get top spot, Japan is treating like their AFC World Cup qualifying showdown against Syria like a "final" game.
After both FIFA 2016 teams recorded comprehensive wins last time, Japan and Syria will head into a deciding match. The unbeaten Japanese soccer team is separated by only one point from the Syrian team.
On Thursday, Japan won against Afghanistan at 5-0, keeping a seventh successive clean sheet. On the other hand, Syria won against Cambodia with a score of 6-0.
After Thursday's match, Vahid Halilhodzic said, "That was a truly beautiful win." Since their goalless draw against Singapore in the opening of the campaign, the latest victory extended Japan's run of collecting maximum points. However, Japan's soccer team will face a completely different task against the strong Syrian team.
According to coach Halilhodzic, at the beggining of the match against Afghanistan on Thursday, Japan's players were trying too much and "were passing the ball a bit too quickly." However, overall, Japan played very well, using a new system that has never been tested before.
The new system had Shinji Okazaki and Mu Kanazaki pair up as twin strikers. The two players were positioned in front of a midfield diamond. Despite limited preparation, the new system worked well.
Halilhodzic added that Japan's team will face a tougher opponent in the next game and must prepare well. Japan will "go all out for the win" during its match against Syria. The ambition of Halilhodzic is that Japan team will be able to finish the "group without conceding any goals."
According to Japan Times, Japan's team coach Vahid Halilhodzic will not use goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima in the World Cup qualifier against Syria. It is highly possible that Eiji Kawashima will not even be on the bench.
