Japan making up for World Cup 2014: Honda
Samurai Blue star says his team are driven by failure in Brazil
Japan's surprise performances in Russia are driven by their failures at the last World Cup in Brazil, said talisman Keisuke Honda.
The Samurai Blue went into the 2014 tournament with much greater expectations than this year, but crashed out in the group stage without a win.
This time around, few harboured hopes of Japan making it through an open Group H, with their full national team having won just two matches since last October.
| JAPAN | POLAND |
To make matters worse, the Japan Football Association sacked Vahid Halilhodzic and replaced him with Akira Nishino just two months before the World Cup. But the Samurai Blue have confounded expectations in Russia, sitting atop Group H after a win and a draw.
Honda, a veteran of the last two World Cups, believes they are now playing the football they were expected to play at Brazil 2014.
"I think we prepared ourselves to come back to the World Cup one more time after 2014 and try to deliver results," the Japan Times quoted the 32-year-old Honda as saying before their final group game against eliminated top seeds Poland tonight.
"And results haven't been bad in our last two games. I get the impression that Nishino just happens to have us playing the kind of football we wanted to play in 2014.
"I think the way we battled in particular against Senegal was what we had aimed to do in 2014.
"We expressed ourselves with what I had long described as 'our football.'"
And Japan's brand of football is not to play for a draw against Poland, despite needing only a point to qualify for the Round of 16 for the first time since 2010.
Said captain Makoto Hasebe: "Japan are not the kind of team that can aim for a point and go and carry that plan out. I think we have to focus on getting three points rather than make calculations."
However, striker Shinji Okazaki insists three points won't be easy despite Poland having nothing to play for.
He said: "Our situation is by no means safe... Poland are a tough team and that is why they are ranked eighth in the world."
EQUATIONS
- Japan and Senegal require only a point in their respective games against Poland and Colombia to reach the Round of 16.
- Japan can also qualify if they lose by fewer goals than Senegal.
- Colombia will qualify if they beat Senegal.
- They can also qualify with a draw if Japan lose, because they have a better goal difference.
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