Whether Takeshi Okada's offer to resign as national team manager immediately after this week's defeat to South Korea was serious or merely a gesture of apology, the effect is still the same: The growing sense that Japan is heading for World Cup humiliation has now been endorsed by the team's own leader.

Okada's comments after the 2-0 loss on Monday suggested he had placed his fate in the hands of Japan Football Association president Motoaki Inukai less than three weeks before the tournament begins, saying: "I have just spoken to the president and asked him if he wanted me to carry on. He said continue."

One day later, however, Okada had changed his tune, denying that he had ever intended to walk away and suggesting he had simply chosen his words carelessly.