Japan puts blame on Zico, Nakata for Iran loss

Japan puts blame on Zico, Nakata for Iran loss

Agence France-Presse, Tokyo

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 its next qualifier against Bahrain at home on Wednesday.

Zico had opted to switch from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 to accommodate Nakata, back from a year's absence from international duty due to recurring groin pain, on the front right midfield.

Japan usually plays 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 defense was also aimed at blocking Iran's firing line spearheaded by veteren captain Ali Daei.

But the shift from the formation which helped Japan retain the Asian Cup last August cost the team dearly, although 28-year-old Nakata, twice the Asian soccer player 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."

Nakata, once considered an infallible figure, 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 meters in Tehran.

Fukunishi scored the sole goal for Japan.