By Gus Fielding,
Japan head coach Vahid Halilhodzic has vowed to silence his critics and says he is thriving on the pressure ahead of next week's crunch World Cup final-round qualifier at home to Australia.
Amid reports that defeat against the Socceroos could cost him his job, the gruff Bosnian was in a defiant mood Thursday as he named a 27-man squad for the Aug. 31 match in Saitama and the Blue Samurai's last qualifier away to Saudi Arabia on Sept. 5.
"We started the final round of qualifiers on the wrong foot (with a 2-1 defeat at home to United Arab Emirates last September) but we are top of the group," Halilhodzic told a press conference at the Japan Football Association's Tokyo headquarters.
"I hear the recent criticism directed my way and it puts pressure on me but this is the kind of situation I like. The more I come under attack and the more criticism I face, the more determined I am to respond."
Halilhodzic was speaking a day after the JFA reiterated its support for the 65-year-old, following a tabloid report that quoted an association official as saying "it would be hard to imagine him taking the team to Saudi Arabia if Japan lose to Australia."
Japan lead Group B in the final round of qualifiers with 17 points, but only one ahead of the Saudis and third-placed Australia with two games left.
Only the top two teams in the group qualify directly for Russia.
Japan can punch their World Cup tickets with a win against Asian champions Australia, and Halilhodzic has told his charges to stand up and be counted.
"I have been told that we have never beaten Australia in a (final-round) qualifier, but we had a chance to beat them the last time we played them," Halilhodzic said. "This has been the most difficult list I have had to put together."
"This team has character and that is what we need for this (Australia) game. The players have to be samurai warriors. I want the players who take part in the game to show that spirit and have no fear."
"It's a difficult situation but I believe my players can rise to the occasion."
He added, "I have analyzed the Australians for the last two months and went to Russia to watch them in the Confederations Cup. They had virtually their best squad and are a strong physical team. They have strengths but also weaknesses."
Halilhodzic welcomed back regular captain Makoto Hasebe. The Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder was one of a number of players named in the squad who are coming back from injury.
The former Algeria coach also recalled Spanish-based midfielder Gaku Shibasaki and Mainz striker Yoshinori Muto. He named Cerezo Osaka attacker Kenyu Sugimoto as one of four uncapped players in the squad.
"It is good to have Shibasaki back," Halilhodzic said of the Getafe midfielder. "It took time for him to adjust in Spain but I have watched his last two matches and he has done well and can do better. He has great character."
Along with Hasebe, who had to undergo surgery on a knee injury sustained in March, Cologne striker Yuya Osako, Pachuca midfielder Keisuke Honda and Borussia Dortmund's Shinji Kagawa have been fitness concerns for a variety of ailments.
"Firstly, I have called up 27 players for the training camp. There are a number of players I am concerned about and I have done this because I don't want to take risks. I want to look first-hand at the players I have got and see what the possibilities are."
A third-place finish for Japan in Group B would send them into a two-leg playoff against the team that finishes third in Group A. Japan would be away for the first leg on Oct. 5 and at home in Saitama on Oct. 10.
The winning team over two legs would then go into another playoff in November against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, representing the North, Central America and Caribbean region.
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The squad:
Goalkeepers - Eiji Kawashima (Metz), Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol)
Defenders - Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Reds), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Hiroki Sakai (Marseille), Gotoku Sakai (Hamburg), Gen Shoji (Kashima Antlers), Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers), Genta Miura (Gamba Osaka)
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Midfielders - Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt), Yojiro Takahagi (FC Tokyo), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Yuki Kobayashi (Heerenveen), Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe), Yosuke Ideguchi (Gamba Osaka)
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Forwards - Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City), Keisuke Honda (Pachuca), Takashi Inui (Eibar), Yuya Osako (Cologne), Genki Haraguchi (Hertha Berlin), Yoshinori Muto (Mainz), Kenyu Sugimoto (Cerezo Osaka), Yuya Kubo (Gent), Takuma Asano (Stuttgart)
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