Zaccheroni: Japan were dominant

Japan manager Alberto Zaccheroni felt his side were dominant despite the fact they scraped to a 2-1 win over Syria on Thursday.

Zaccheroni watched his side control the first-half and take the lead through skipper Makoto Hasebe, but a highly controversial Firas Al Khatib penalty drew Syria level with just 15 minutes left.

Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima was sent off as part of the penalty, but despite being reduced to 10 men, Japan fought on and scored the winner with eight minutes remaining when Keisuke Honda held his nerve to score from the spot.

Syria were brave in defeat and nearly produced a terrific result against a seemingly below-par Japan, but Zaccheroni declared he was happy with his side’s performance.

“It was not too tough a match for us. We scored in the first half and this was decisive because it was a totally one sided game for Japan,” Zaccheroni said.

“Even when we were down to 10 players we performed like we had 11. The result against Syria was fair and I feel Japan have the potential to go far in the Asian Cup, so I am looking forward to seeing more improvement and development from us.”

Zaccheroni was pleased with the way his side dealt with Syria, who he said set out to defend.

“Syria won their first match so they had good momentum but they played very defensively against us,” he said.

“We coped with them very well and we moved the ball very well and so we had plenty of variations of attacking play.”

Zaccheroni also said his side would not be complacent in their final encounter against Saudi Arabia, despite the fact the Middle East side have already been knocked out.

Syria boss Tita Valeriu was clearly disappointed that his side had not won the game, despite having an extra man for the last 15 minutes of the match.

“I was not happy with just getting a draw,” Valeriu said.

“My substitutions during the match show that I wanted a win. We played very attacking and were looking for the three points. From now on we will do our best.”

Valeriu believes the controversial decision to send Kawashima off was the right one.

“I believe the Japanese goalkeeper’s red card was correct. He deserved it because our player was alone at the back and the keeper impeded him,” he said.