Japan's preparations are a joke, says coach
TOKYO: Japan's preparations for the defence of their Asian Cup title were labelled a joke by coach Ivica Osim yesterday.
The Bosnian, upset that most of his players have club commitments before Japan's opener on July 9, blasted the J-League schedule in an attack dripping with sarcasm.
"Most of our Asian Cup rivals have been together for around 20 days already," Osim told reporters.
"We'll be going to Vietnam with next to no preparation and with a squad of tired players. It's a novel approach."
The 66-year-old added: "It's brilliant! As a bonus we can even save the Japan Football Association some money by keeping our training camps so short."
Japan will hold a three-day training camp before flying to Vietnam on July 4 for their opening Group B game against Qatar in Hanoi.
The United Arab Emirates and co-hosts Vietnam are also in the same group as the defending champions.
This year's Asian Cup takes place from July 7-29 and will be staged jointly by Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Osim also warned against unrealistic expectations, acknowledging that it would be extremely difficult for Japan to win their third straight Asian Cup.
"The expectations are too high," said the former Yugoslavia coach. "There are many good teams in the competition and they all want to beat Japan.
"Historically everyone wants to beat Japan more than any other country and we will have to be mentally strong enough to counter that level of desire."
Agencies
(China Daily 06/22/2007 page24)
