Expect no mercy from Japan

By Ajitpal Singh
ajitpalsingh@nst.com.my

THE Japanese 'kamikaze' warriors will go full trottle when they face hosts Malaysia, a match they have to win to earn a semi-final spot from Group A in Kuantan today.
Japan, who lost 3-2 to South Korea yesterday, have three points and they need to win today at all cost to keep their World Cup hopes alive. And Japan manager Yamanaka Manabu promised that his players will make minced meat out of Malaysia.
The Malaysians will need to take the Japanese threat very seriously. The Olympic Qualifiers in Kakagimahara last April still haunts the Malaysians as it was where Japan denied them a place in the final of the event.
Then Malaysia needed a win and were on course for it in that important match but Japan scored with less than a minute on the clock to force a 3-3 draw to enter the finals against Germany.
"I was the coach then in Kakagimahara. I know how Malaysians play and they are not very fast. I will make some tactical changes to catch them with our speed," said Manabu yesterday.
Japan were unlucky to lose their match which they dominated against the Koreans, who scored two out of their three goals through penalty strokes. Lee Nam Yong scored a brace, both off penalty strokes in the 22nd and 35th while Jin Kyung Min notched in the other in the 12th minute. Japan replied through Kei Kawakami (20th) and Takayasu Mizawa (53rd).
Japan are in the process of rebuilding their national team and have brought several youngsters for the tournament.
Among them are Naoto Shiokawa, Ken Yoshikawa, Kenta Tanaka, Kenji Kitazato and Daisuke Suzuki, who will also represent the Japanese junior team for next month's Junior World Cup.
Meanwhile, defending champions India will need to beat China in their Group B match today or miss the semi-final boat for the first time in the Asia Cup.
India, who were defeated by Pakistan 3-2 on Sunday, have a proud record in the tournament having won it twice and finishing runnes-up four times and third only once since its inception in 1982.
India coach Harendra Singh has a world class squad with him but he needs to tighthen his leaky defence in their match today.
China, with a point after the 1-1 draw with Pakistan on Saturday, are expected to play defensively as they need only a draw against India to make the semi-final. In their last meeting, India defeated China 1-0 in the 2007 Asia Cup edition in Chennai.