a vote of support for Takeshi Okada

Following Japan's 1-1 draw against Uzbekistan at Saitama Stadium this week, various media reports suggested that manager Takeshi Okada days were numbered.

Japan Football Association President Motoaki Inukai emphatically noted that his job is safe:

"Things will remain as they are. I trust in Okada and we just have to win through the qualifiers with our Japanese brand of soccer. We didn't play very well for the first half an hour but recovered and were able to play our style of soccer. I think that style of soccer suits Japanese players. We will keep going with Okada. We won’t sack him.”