Japan's coach Hajime Moriyasu.
JAPAN coach Hajime Moriyasu said he was setting his sights on a best-ever finish for the country at the World Cup after they stunned Spain 2-1 to finish top of Group E.
The Blue Samurai will face Croatia in the next round, but Moriyasu is looking even further down the line, having beaten and helped eliminate four-time champions Germany.
It is the fourth time japan have reached the last 16 but they have never progressed beyond that stage.
“In terms of a finish, the new aim for us is the last eight,” said Moriyasu.
“The players are showing us a different and new view of being able to fight on the world stage.
“I would like to set a new record of the last eight or better.”
But Moriyasu was certainly feeling all the jitters on Thursday night.
The “Agony of Doha” came 29 years ago, and Moriyasu experienced it first-hand as a midfielder on Japan’s national football team.
As time was winding down against Spain, Moriyasu was thinking about that game in Qatar against Iraq in 1993 that cost the team a spot in the next year’s tournament.
“About one minute before the end,” Moriyasu said after the win over Spain, “I remembered the tragedy in Doha.”
Leading 2-1 in the team’s final qualifier and knowing one goal for the opposition would spell the end, Japan conceded in stoppage time. Their World Cup hopes were dashed, and so was Moriyasu’s chances of playing at the biggest football tournament in the world.
This time it was different. This time the defence held it together. This time the 54-year-old Moriyasu got his Hollywood ending by winning Group E.
“I could feel that the times have changed,” Moriyasu said, praising his team’s aggressive defending. “They are playing a new kind of football, that’s how I felt.”
Up next is Croatia, a team that reached the final four years ago in Russia. Another victory on Monday would put Japan in the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.
“We,” the coach said, “are gifting this win to the people of Japan.” — Agencies
