Japan's World Cup qualifying hopes advanced with a 1-0 defeat of Bahrain at Saitama Stadium. The win moves the Blue Samurai one point above Australia who have a match in-hand and face Uzbekistan next Wednesday.Takeshi Okada deployed a more aggressive 4-3-3 using Tatsuya Tanaka 田中 達也 (Urawa Red Diamonds), Keiji Tamada 玉田 圭司 (Nagoya Grampus) and Yoshito Ōkubo 大久保 嘉人 (VfL Wolfsburg) up top with Makoto Hasebe 長谷部 誠 (VfL Wolfsburg), Yasuhito Endō 遠藤 保仁 (Gamba Osaka) and Shunsuke Nakamura 中村 俊輔 Celtic in the midfield. The back-line of Atsuto Uchida 内田 篤人 (Kashima Antlers), Yuji Nakazawa 中澤 佑二 (Yokohama F. Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka 田中 マルクス闘莉王 (Urawa Red Diamonds) and Yuto Nagatomo 長友 佑都 (F.C. Tokyo) was anchored with Seigo Narazaki 楢崎 正剛 (Nagoya Grampus) between the posts.
After a scoreless first half in which the Blue Samurai's best chance to score came from Yasuhito Endō's corner was headed on but Yuji Nakazawa header was cleared off the line, Takeshi Okada's side took the lead two minutes into the new half. Following a foul on Keiji Tamada, Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura free kick from twenty-five metres took an opportunistic bounce off Bahrain defender Abdulla Marzooq and into the net giving the Blue Samurai the 1-0 lead. Japan should have increased the margin seven minutes later when Atsuto Uchida was alone in front but his effort didn't materialize and four minutes later the Kashima Antlers defender had another chance but this type it shook the crossbar. With Bahrain barely able to launch an threatening attack, Japan cruised through the remaining minutes for a 1-0 victory.
Photo Credit: AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
