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Japan coach rages after loss to Bahrain
TOKYO, March 27 (Reuters) - Japan coach Takeshi Okada tore into his side after their shock 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat by Bahrain, describing the loss as a 'nightmare scenario.'
Ala'a Hubail's 77th-minute header gave Bahrain an upset
victory in Wednesday's game in Manama, sending the home side
top of Group Two and leaving Japan three points off the pace.
'It's the nightmare scenario,' fumed Okada. 'It's an
extremely disappointing result. We were sloppy and we took our
foot off at the end.'
Goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi failure to deal with a
routine cross presented Hubail with a simple finish.
'It was an easy cross to defend,' growled Okada.
'He should either have punched it or caught it. Instead he
failed to make up his mind and did neither. It was a bad
mistake.'
Japan have appeared at the last three World Cup finals
while Bahrain were beaten by Trinidad & Tobago in a playoff for
a berth at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
The Gulf side have six points from their opening two
qualifiers in their bid to reach the 2010 finals in South
Africa.
The top two teams from each Asian group advance to the next
round of qualifying.
Japan's setback was the first time in almost 20 years they
had been beaten in a World Cup preliminary game before the
final round of regional qualifiers.
'No excuses,' said defender Yuji Nakazawa.
'We should have been more attack-minded. They did exactly
what we should have done to them.'
Okada, however, remained defiant.
'We have plenty more games left to qualify,' said the
51-year-old, who was without his European-based players for the
trip to Bahrain. 'But we can't afford any more mistakes.'
Original story from ESPN_Soccernet.
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