Football Soccer - Japan v Afghanistan - World Cup 2018 Qualifier - Saitama Stadium, Saitama, Japan - 24/3/16 Japan's head coach Vahid Halilhodzic claps his hands before the match against Afghanistan. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
(Reuters) - Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic has admitted he struggled to put together a squad for Thursday's 2018 World Cup qualifier against United Arab Emirates, with most of his players either rusty or fatigued.
The four-times Asian champions topped their group in the previous round of qualifiers for the tournament in Russia and are favourites to book an automatic spot from Group B, which has Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Thailand as the other teams.
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