Japan coach Javier Aguirre appeared at a news conference at Brisbane Stadium on 15 January, one day before their second Group-D match against Iraq in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia. The Mexican said, ''it will be an important game with the group qualification at stake. We want to get in the game with strong intensity.''

Both Japan and Iraq posted wins in their first games and tied with three points in the standings, but Japan is ahead by the goal differences. If Japan wins on the 16th and Palestine posts a result of a draw or better on the same day, Japan will clinch the knockout stage before their third game in the group round.

Japan have had four wins, three losses and two draws against Iraq, and have defeated them four games in a row since 2000, including contests in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2012 and 2013. ''We are prepared for the Iraqi game,'' Aguirre said. ''Iraq have a lot of important players who play good football. They are good at combination plays and play bravely. It'll be a very tough game,'' he added.

Iraq, despite of their severe domestic political situations, earned an Asian title by winning in the 2007 edition of the tournament. They have remained at least in the final eight since 1996 in it. Iraq is placed 114th (Japan 54th) in FIFA rankings, but have some star players like forward Younis Mahmoud, who was the scoring leader and won the MVP in the 2007 tournament, and midfielder Ahmed Yasin, who plays in Sweden.

The current head coach for Iraq is Radhi SWADI, who had led the national team as their captain for a long time. He played for the national squad in a final World Cup qualifier match against Japan in 1993, in which Japan came close to make their first World Cup finals but ended up missing. He was one of the defenders who stood high in front of the Japanese attackers.

''We're looking forward to it,'' Swadi said. ''Japan have a lot of players who are having success in Europe and are a good team. We want to deduct the number of mistakes so we won't give edges to Japan and get a positive result by playing as a team.''

As the severe summer heat returned, Japan practiced for one last time for the game and checked on their plays for about an hour at the match site on the day. ''Tomorrow's game will be an important game for us to play in the group stage,'' Midfielder ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka) said. ''Iraq are a very good team, so while we have some respect to them, we want to put up good plays with concentration and performing as a team.''

Endo, meanwhile, just renewed his own record for the most games played on the Japan national team with 149 in their Palestine game. ''If I'll get another opportunity to play, I'm excited,'' he said. ''Hopefully, I can have some kicks to help our team score goals.''

The match will kick off at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. In Japan time).

Comments

Javier AGUIRRE, Head Coach (SAMURAI BLUE/Japan National Team)
We are going to play a very tough game against Iraq tomorrow. They have some players who play very good football. I played against them for the Mexican national team in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. I remember they were very strong and powerful and we managed to win 1-0. They are not a easy team that you can beat easily. I've seen their latest two games, and they have a lot of combination plays and play bravely. Both of us have earned three points this tournament, and it will be an important game that the winners of tomorrow's game will qualify through the group. All of us are in good condition and we want to play with high intensity.

MF  HASEBE Makoto (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany)
(On the reports that the match-fixing case has been accepted by a Spanish court) We had heard that it was going to be received anyways, so it's not going to change what we do. Right now, we are here representing the country as professional football players, and I think it's quite natural for us to focus on football and our mood won't change. We only had three days since our first game to rest, so it was one of our themes that how much we could recover. Today and yesterday, we practiced on issues from the Palestine game, and we hope to be able to correct on things we can't do from our previous games. As for the Iraqi game, in terms of the intensity it's going to be a different game from the Palestine game and I think our intensity level will go up. It's important that how much we can think and bring situations better when we are not playing well.

Radhi SWADI, Head Coach (Iraq National Team)
We won our first game against Jordan and it put us in a better situation to qualify through the group, but we want to play one game at a time. As to the Japan-Palestine game, there were gaps between the two sides in terms of their qualities, I don't think it can be a good reference to us, but Japan has a lot of players who are having success in Europe and are a good team. Japan have tried to develop, being united with their coaches and players and led by their football federation, and their abilities are well known in Asia. We want to play as a team and put up the best we can, while we want to deduct the number of mistakes to give edges to Japan, we can have a positive result in the end.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

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