Champions to face off for top spot in Group D

BRISBANE (Australia) — Japan and Iraq, champions of the last two Asian Cups, go head-to-head today in a match that will likely determine who gets the top spot in Group D. In the day’s other match, Jordan takes on tournament newcomer Palestine at Melbourne.

Japan coach Javier Aguirre again had to field questions on the eve of the important match about an investigation into match-fixing in Spain, but refused to comment on anything other than football.

He said he was only talking to the media, and to his team, about the Asian Cup.

Former Mexico coach Aguirre, who was hired in August to replace Alberto Zaccheroni at Japan, became embroiled in a match-fixing probe launched by Spain’s state prosecutor dating back to a match between Zaragoza and Levante in May 2011. Aguirre, who was an official at Zaragoza, denies any wrongdoing, but the ongoing case has been swirling in the background since the end of last year.

“Tomorrow we await a big, competitive game against Iraq,” he said. “They play very good football and they have very good players. Both teams have three points. We’ll have a big fight against them (and) the winner will pass the group stage. We’re expecting a very intense match.”

Japan opened the tournament with a 4-0 thrashing of Palestine, easing off in the last 40 minutes. Similarly, Iraq had to work hard for their 1-0 win over Jordan.

But Iraq coach Radhi Shenaishil said the Japan-Palestine result was not a genuine indicator of form because of the vast difference in the calibre of the teams.

“The first match against Jordan was a good result and gives us an advantage in this competition,” said Shenaishil.

“I think the advantage is that, after our win against Jordan, the Japanese team will look at Iraq in a different way, given the history between the two teams. I hope we don’t make too many mistakes in this match and come out of it with a positive result.”

Shenaishil said Iraq had no injury concerns and had the kind of players who could match Japan’s Europe-based stars.

“We have outlined certain points with certain players for the game and if the players put these points into practice, we should come up with a positive result,” he said.

The countries have only met once at the Asian Cup, when Japan won 4-1. The Japanese have won their last three internationals against Iraq without conceding a goal. AP