FRANCE 98 – Japan-Croatia – M. Okano: “Our supporters helped us a lot but that wasn't enough”

Japan-Croatia – M. Okano: “Our supporters helped us a lot but that wasn’t enough”

20.06.98 18h38 CET

Hidtoshi NAKATA (8):

Comments from NANTES

“JAPAN’s defeat has saddened me. The fact that we played well does not change anything, because we didn’t win: we are inconsolable. Today victory was all that mattered. We played a good match but could have played better. I’m very disappointed. However, all is not yet lost; we’re going to give our best in our last match, against JAMAICA.”

Woshikatsu KAWAJUCHI (20):

“We should have started this match with more confidence and enthusiasm. I think we didn’t give all that we could because we didn’t feel that much pressure on us. Our qualification is obviously very compromised, but all the same it will depend on the result of the ARGENTINA-JAMAICA match, provided we beat JAMAICA. The positive point is that this has given us more experience at the international level. That will help us to prepare for the 2002 World Cup which we’re going to host. I would like to pay tribute to our fans who spent 90 minutes at our side. You find the same atmosphere every week at the Japanese league game.”

Masayuki OKANO (14):

“The end of the match was difficult for us. We were exhausted. This was frustrating, since we played well up till then. We’ll all be glued to our television watching the ARGENTINA match, hoping that they lose. Such an atmosphere in the stands always encourages us – it’s just like a game in JAPAN. Our supporters helped us a lot but that wasn’t enough. The good thing was that now we knew how to fight against a team at CROATIA’s level.”

Masashi MAKAYAMA (9):

“From now on, our only aim is to win the third match against JAMAICA. The Japanese players in the World Cup in four years’ time will not be the same as today. But they’ll be entirely capable of beating the strongest teams. Before then, we have two major handicaps to overcome: the coherence of our game and our physical condition. Our attack up-field was very strong until we got to within twenty metres of the goal-line, but it was difficult to carry through. It was great for us to come to France but as long as we haven’t won a World Cup match we won’t be able to say that JAPAN is part of the world’s heavyweights.”