Japan thrashed Malaysia 4-0 in their penultimate Olympic group qualifier Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of securing a place at the London Games.
Coach Takashi Sekizuka said they could have used a few more goals to cement their place at the top of the Group C rankings -- and with that their Olympic chances as only the group winner automatically qualifies for London.
Before the match, Japan were tied with Syria on nine points and on goal difference. But Syria topped the four-team group, having scored one more goal.
Japan now have 12 points. Syria play later Wednesday against third-placed Bahrain away in Manama.
"If we could score one or two more goals, it would have been better, but I guess four goals are fine," Sekizuka told reporters after the game. "They had many more chances to score."
But he added, "I'm satisfied with the performance of the team, and they got the right result at the end. Individually they played well."
Japan have played in the last four Olympics but the prospect of missing their ticket to London arose after they lost to Syria earlier this month.
Sekizuka said his side dominated the midfield to give them their big win over Malaysia, and he also defended his decision to start debutant Manabu Saito.
"We wanted to have a fast squad from the start, and Saito's condition was good," he said.
Japan showed their dominance in the early minutes of the match after Hiroki Sakai blasted the ball towards the Malaysian goal only to be saved by goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat.
Sakai, however, was spot on in the 35th minute to give his side the lead. Yuya Osako made it 2-0 for Japan before half time.
Genki Haraguchi made it 3-0 in the 55th minute while Saito stamped his mark by scoring the final goal of the match in the 60th minute.
Japan beat Malaysia 2-0 in their earlier group match at Tosu Stadium.
"Malaysia played more attacking compared to our first match. I'm happy, but we need to move on," Sekizuka said.
Malaysia are out of the running for qualification, having lost all four of their games so far.
The qualifiers conclude on March 14 with Japan at home to Bahrain and Syria, whose country is in the throes of anti-government unrest, playing Malaysia on neutral turf in Jordan.
The runners-up in Asia's three pools enter a round-robin playoff, with the winners heading to a one-off game on April 23 in the English city Coventry to face Senegal for the continent's last Olympics spot.
Source: AFP
