Singapore vs Japan in World Cup Qualifier

“I’m very happy for the victory, we played with ambition and aggressiveness [but] unfortunately we couldn’t score more goals”.

“Definitely (want to see the same fighting spirit)”.

“World Cup qualification – it’s more a matter for Japan, not Singapore”, Stange admitted.

Hariss, who battled the likes of Makoto Hasebe and Shinji Kagawa in the middle of the park, wants his team to prove that the goalless draw in Saitama was no fluke. It’s the same when we played away in Japan.

“But we will continue trying to progress individually and, as a team, and I am here to try do that”. “That way, the result will come.” said the 25-year-old.

“We need to score more goals because we won’t get as many chances when we play against superior teams”, he added.

“I said to the players that we have to show more determination because this game is more hard than the first one because our opponents are playing at home, but we have the quality to get the win”.

The coach left Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki on the bench but the absence of the two European-based players mattered little as Japan was quick into gear against hospitable hosts, who retreated and struggled to contain possession.

Forward Mu Kanazaki volleyed emphatically past the despairing dive of goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud in the 20th minute, connecting with Yoshinori Muto’s cushion from the right after left-back Shakir Hamzah had missed his header, allowing AC Milan star Keisuke Honda to lob a cross in.

The Samurai Blue ran rings around the home side at the National Stadium, scoring three goals without reply in a footballing masterclass of pass, move and press. And while their movement is sometimes very hard to track, we managed to do it with teamwork and discipline to keep our shape.

While Japan and Singapore are tied on 10 points in the group, two points behind leaders Syria, Singapore coach Bernd Stange is insisted that qualifying for Russian Federation 2018 is not a target for his side.

“They also hunted in packs when they lost the ball and we need to try and learn all this”.

“As a team, we have to cover every blade of grass at the Sports Hub and each player that is sent out to play must be willing to go all out for the 90 minutes”. It will be tough but we should enjoy the game on our own turf. Playing football, passing game, dominating, splitting passes, no crosses when nobody is in the box.

That elevated them to top spot in Group E, while Singapore remain third – which comes with a guaranteed spot in the third round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying.

“Some players have just arrived from Europe and they are still getting used to the differences in the temperature and the heat so I don’t know who will start the game yet”, said Halihodzic, who will be taking his team on to Phnom Penh for their next qualifier against Cambodia on Tuesday.