After the euphoria of beating Argentina in his first match as national team manager, Alberto Zaccheroni got a good look at the other face of Japanese soccer on Sunday.
In their Asian Cup opener in Qatar, Zaccheroni's men needed an injury time equalizer from Maya Yoshida to snatch a 1-1 draw with rank outsider Jordan, salvaging a point from a game where the national team's age-old weakness made a wretched return.
Possession was almost exclusively Japan's against a team ranked 104th in the world, yet it took until the 92nd minute before one of the tournament's most fancied teams got on the scoresheet. Against sides that set out to defend and hit on the counterattack, Zaccheroni is learning that Japan often struggles to find a way through.