Zaccheroni demands improvement from Japan
Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni has conceded his side have much work to do ahead of their FIFA World Cup opener against Ivory Coast.
Zaccheroni's men were able to record a fifth victory in succession when they faced Zambia on Friday in their final warm-up friendly.
However, Japan had to come from two goals down before eventually running out 4-3 winners courtesy of an injury-time winner from Yoshito Okubo.
"Obviously we can't carry on like this," said Zaccheroni, whose side also gave up the first goal in a 3-1 triumph over Costa Rica earlier in the week.
"I'm thinking about the things we need to put right. The result wasn't important but the performance was.
"I told the players before the game that we have to sort out these problems in the next week. This team has its own logic. The players have followed that logic and played so well in the past but tonight we didn't have it.
"If the team knows what it should be doing then the chances of us winning are high, but if they veer away from that there is a bigger possibility of us losing. In today's game it was the latter."
"We didn't have that team logic but still won, so in that sense I am not satisfied."
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Japan face the Ivory Coast on June 14 in Recife, before facing Greece and Colombia in their other Group C fixtures.
‘Maybe I’ll be signed by Wrexham, who knows? English football would suit me – if an offer came, I wouldn’t think twice, I’d go immediately’ Euro 2024 cult hero reveals his UK dream
‘Managing Leeds? It was an option that appeared, but it wasn’t the right timing. I decided it wasn’t a good idea to leave the club I was at mid-season’: Premier League boss admits to turning down opportunity to replace Jesse Marsch in 2023