TEHRAN: Five people were trampled to death and 40 injured in a crush of spectators after Friday evening's World Cup qualifier between Iran and Japan, with one further spectator dying of an apparent heart attack brought on by the nail-biting clash, press reports said on Saturday.

The injured have been admitted to three hospitals, IRNA quoted Tehran's Emergency Centre as saying. Also injured during the match was a Japanese woman, who suffered slight facial wounds from a firecracker.

The crush occurred immediately after the match, which Iran won 2-1, when an estimated 100,000 spectators flooded out of the packed downtown Azadi stadium.

Iranian media said those killed had attempted to use an unauthorized exit, and added that stadium management and national sporting officials have ordered an investigation.

The sixth death, reported by ISNA, was caused by a man who was overwhelmed by "too much excitement" - probably a heart attack.

Officials also reported that 86 buses were damaged in post-match crowd violence, although no arrests were reported.

Japan disappointed

Japan's World Cup squad returned home on Saturday after a shock 2-1 loss to Iran overnight with coach Zico under fire for gambling too much on out-of-form Fiorentina midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata.

"It serves them right," cried the headline in the tabloid Nikkan Gendai, which had warned the Brazilian legend would face pressure to resign if the Asian champions lost their next qualifier against Bahrain at home on Wednesday.

Zico had opted to switch from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 formation to accommodate Nakata, who returned after a year's absence from international duty due to recurring groin pain .

Japan usually play with three midfielders plus two wing backs. But Nakata, who has often sat on the bench in Italian Series-A matches, joined three regulars in the midfield.

The four-man defence was also aimed at blocking Iran's firing line spearheaded by veteran captain Ali Daei.

But the shift from the formation which helped Japan retain the Asian Cup last August cost them dearly, although 28-year-old Nakata, twice the Asian footballer of the year, dazzled with a few brilliant passes.

"We were exploring our own kind of football. It was not our condition that mattered most," Reggina playmaker and Asian Cup star Shunsuke Nakamura, who played alongside Nakata, told Japanese reporters after the match.

"Returning to the old formation is the shortest cut to a solution," he added.

Once lauded as an infallible figure, Nakata and fellow midfielder Takashi Fukunishi were embroiled in a rare bust-up over tactics while training ahead of the match at an altitude of 1,300 metres in Tehran.

Fukunishi scored the sole goal for Japan.

SV Hamburg striker Naohiro Takahara said, "I could not grasp the timing for making a move. We were not clear about our combinations and moves. We have no choice but to re-adjust ourselves before the Bahrain match."

"First of all, it was a failure," the influential daily Asahi Shimbun said.

"There was disagreement between Nakata and others over defence tactics," the daily added, saying that Zico must rebuild solidarity with his players in the next four days before the Bahrain match.

Japan, who beat DPR Korea in the opener of the Asian Group B, slipped to third spot with three points. Iran and Bahrain stood at the top with four points as the two countries drew in their first match.

Bahrain beat DPR Korea 2-1 in the other Group-B match in Pyongyang on Friday.

"Far from top form, Nakata created some fine moments. But on the other hand, the timing of his passes was slow and he let the ball slip away a number of times," senior football critic Yoshiyuki Osumi wrote in the daily Tokyo Shimbun.

"But if Nakata has restored something through the fierce battle to carry on to battles ahead, we can be content with the lost match," he said.

Japan, who reached the last 16 in the 2002 World Cup finals on home turf, have been boosted by a run of luck, including an injury-time winner, in their qualifying campaign for 2006. They won all six matches in the first round.

"If Japan lose to Bahrain after Iran, it will prove that they can no longer win with luck," the tabloid Nikkan Gendai said, quoting football association sources. "They will have two months before the next match, enough to rebuild themselves under a new head coach."

(China Daily 03/28/2005 page15)