DOHA: Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni praised his side’s “un-Italian” attacking qualities after their 3-2 defeat of hosts Qatar in the Asian Cup quarter-finals kept them in the hunt for a record fourth title.
A last-minute goal from defender Masahiko Inoha earned Japan a thrilling victory at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Friday, after Shinji Kagawa had twice cancelled out strikes by Sebastian Soria and Fabio Cesar.
The Blue Samurai will now meet either Iran or South Korea for a place in the final and Italian Zaccheroni said their style of victory directly contradicted the footballing principles habitually espoused in his homeland.
“All over the world, people say that Italian coaches and managers are very defensive. They say that we kill our opponents’ strengths, but I showed that some Italian managers have a different style,” joked the former AC Milan boss.
He added: “I’ve been telling the Japanese national team that we have to play with bravery and balance. That’s the concept.
“It doesn’t matter who you play against, we need to have the bravery to play the Japanese style of football.”
Captain Makoto Hasebe admitted he had been surprised to see his defensive colleague Inoha in such an advanced position in the game’s final minute.
“I couldn’t understand why he was there in the first place,” said the Wolfsburg midfielder. “The coaching staff had told him not to be there and I had told him not to be there. But there he was, and I was surprised. Well, maybe he was right.”
Kagawa headed in Shinji Okazaki’s goal-bound lob to claim his first goal in the 28th minute, after Soria had broken the offside trap to put Qatar 1-0 up. Maya Yoshida was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 63rd minute and from the resulting free-kick, Cesar caught out Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima at his near post to restore Qatar’s lead.
Hasebe was critical of Malaysian referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh’s decision to dismiss centreback Yoshida.
“It’s no use talking about refereeing and things like that,” he said. “But if they want to raise the level of Asian football, such refereeing won’t help.”
Kagawa drew Japan level again seven minutes later, beating goalkeeper Qasem Burhan with a calm left-foot finish, and it was from Kagawa’s incisive dribble that the ball broke for Inoha to stroke home Japan’s winner.
Hasebe said the nature of the win would give Japan added self-belief ahead of the semi-finals.
“We’ve got momentum and coming through a situation like that confirmed our mental strength. But Iran and South Korea are teams one rank or two ranks higher, and there is room for us to improve in defence.”
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