BONN, Germany _ Japan worked on defending against corner and free kicks on Saturday in its last practice before heading to Kaiserslautern to take on Australia in Group F.

Japan coach Zico said avoiding fouls that lead to set plays will be key to keeping Australia from scoring.

The Asian champions also worked on the counter attack before departing for their first match of the World Cup on Monday.

"We've pretty much done all we can do to prepare," Zico said. "The players are ready and we're looking forward to getting started."

Zico said forward Atsushi Yanagisawa has made steady progress in recovering from a broken foot and will likely start against the Aussies along with Hamburger SV forward Naohiro Takahara.

Japan's only other injury concern is defender Akira Kaji, who was injured in a warmup match with Germany on May 30 after taking a hard tackle from midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Yuichi Komano has taken Kaji's place in practice and is likely to start against Australia on Monday. Zico said Kaji should be ready for the Croatia match on June 18.

Japan will be making its third straight World Cup appearance and is hoping to utilize its experience against Australia, which is playing at the World Cup for the first time in 32 years.

"We have a lot players here who were around four years ago and that should help," said defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, who was captain in 2002 when Japan co-hosted the event with South Korea. "But this is a completely different atmosphere from last time."

After Australia, Japan will face Croatia and defending champion Brazil.