Japan coach Zico will once again be walking on thin ice when the Asian champion faces Bahrain in its Asian zone qualifier for the 2006 World Cup in Saitama on Wednesday night.
Zico paid the price for deciding to switch to a 4-4-2 formation that Japan struggled to cope with, as it went down 2-1 to Iran in Tehran on Friday and dropped a point behind Iran and Bahrain in Group B.
Anything less than a win against ever-improving Bahrain would not only hurt Japan's chances of automatically qualifying for the finals in Germany but also pile more pressure on the Brazilian.
Zico tried to play down the defeat to Iran saying there was "no cause to be pessimistic" but there is growing discontent among his players, who have lost confidence in their coach and were quick to point the finger after the Iran defeat.