Junichi Inamoto believes Japan's hardest match in the group phase is going to be their final fixture against Denmark.
Midfielder says spirit has been strengthened by Cameroon win
Junichi Inamoto believes Japan's hardest match in the group phase is going to be their final fixture against Denmark.
Japan opened Group E with a 1-0 win over Cameroon on Monday, with Keisuke Honda's first-half goal securing the points.
The win ended a disappointing run of results for Japan, who had lost four friendlies in the build-up to the tournament before drawing with Zimbabwe last week.
Holland are Japan's next opponents on Saturday, but former Arsenal midfielder Inamoto feels the toughest test will be against Denmark in Rustenburg a week on Thursday.
"I think that the Denmark game will be our hardest match. They have got a lot of players who are very gifted physically," said Inamoto.
"They are probably going to play a long ball game, the type of game that Japan hates. Stopping them playing the long ball will be crucial and when they do hit their passes long we need to be quick to react and cover.
"I don't think Holland will resort to a long ball game and we have to look at how we can hit them on the break."
Room to breathe
Inamoto is hoping his team can build on the victory over Cameroon after revealing the squad's spirit has been strengthened by the result.
"We got what we needed to get done against Cameroon and were able to deal with their long balls and got to the second ball first. We got our goal and everyone stayed totally focused," he told
Kyodo News.
"It was our first win after losing four on the spin and that has strengthened our sense of togetherness.
"To win our opening game at the World Cup for the first time is massive, and this has given us a little room to breathe for our next two matches.".
