Japan coach Okada under fire after Serbia defeat

Japan’s shock 3-0 defeat to a second-string Serbia side has put coach Takeshi Okada under fire only two months ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.

Home supporters booed and threw paper cups onto the pitch after the friendly in Osaka on Wednesday, where Okada had aimed to test domestic J-League players for the last time before announcing his World Cup squad in mid-May.

The Sports Nippon daily said Okada’s World Cup preparation “almost collapsed 64 days before the event.”

Okada, who has targeted a semi-final spot in South Africa, defended himself by saying his squad were not at full strength, playing without Europe-based stars like CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda and Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto.

But the visitors also played without their big names, with midfielder Radosav Petrovic the only player in the squad who competed in World Cup qualifying. Head coach Radomir Antic even left his job to an assistant.

Forward Dragan Mrda bagged a brace and midfielder Nemanja Tomic netted a with a second-half free kick as Serbia beat their hosts with ease.

“Okada is responsible for making a team that can realise his game plan only with the regular starting players,” Sports Nippon said. “That is because whenever they played, he didn’t give chances to the substitute players.”

It said trust in the coach had suffered because of the match, commenting: “He shouldn’t talk about reaching the last four at the World Cup anymore.”

Okada himself lamented: “The match didn’t bring any positive result. When we have 11 regular players out there, we can play a solid game. But it’s difficult to play the same when we have injured players.”

Before the match, football commentator Sergio Echigo warned Japan were “worn out” and weaker than at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

“We can expect nothing from his team at the World Cup, to say nothing about reaching the last four. The national team is facing a crisis,” Echigo told the Nikkan Sports daily.