Japan 1 - 0 Malta

Japan made tough work of Malta with a 1-0 win in their final warm up game before the World Cup.

I can’t really comment on the game as I haven’t seen any highlights but coach Zico summed the game up by saying his team were poor.

Without regular forwards Naohiro Takahara and Atsushi Yanagisawa, Japan were always going to struggle for goals but at least deputy striker Keiji Tamada did get a goal for Japan after 18 months.

I just hope the Japan team have the right attitude when they face Australia in the opening game.