Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda has remained upbeat about his sides chances against Colombia in their final Group C game, insisting that the Blue Samurai will treat the game like a final.
Alberto Zaccheroni’s side were left frustrated at the end of their 0-0 draw against Greece on Thursday night after they failed to capitalise on Konstantinis Katsouranis’s first-half dismissal, leaving their chances of progressing through Group C hanging by a thread.
The result means Japan have to beat group leaders Colombia, who have already qualified for the last 16, while relying on the Ivory Coast to slip up against Greece however the AC Milan play-maker is refusing to abandon hope.
“Even though Colombia have already qualified, for us the game will be like a final and we’ll be playing for our lives.” the 28-year-old told FIFA.com.
“I think that today (Thursday) we created plenty of chances, enough to have scored and taken all three points, which could have left us in a better situation.
“But unfortunately we fell a touch short with our finishing. We now need to iron those flaws in our next game and pick up a vital win.”
The Asian champions dominated proceedings but failed to breakthrough a resilient Greek defence and following the game, Zaccheroni was left to rue his sides profligacy.
“We needed to win this game at all costs and that is what we had been preparing for all week.” the Italian tactician told reporters.
“We tried to attack down the flanks and in the end we were able to manage this but we needed to be more incisive in front of goal.
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to put the finishing touch on our moves but we need to keep playing well and win our next game.”
The other game in Group C saw Colombia secure their passage through to the last 16 with a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast, thanks to second-half goals from James Rodriguez and Juan Quinter0.
Follow Luca Hodges-Ramon on Twitter: @LH_Ramon25
