Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni hit back at suggestions he has failed to condition his team properly for the World Cup, but the Italian tactician says he is ready for "self analysis" after the Asian champions surrendered a first-half lead and crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Cote d'Ivoire in their opening World Cup game on Saturday night.
Keisuke Honda struck a fabulous opener on 16 minutes and Atsuto Uchida nearly doubled the lead five minutes later, but that was pretty much the only clear-cut chances the Samurai Blue managed to create in the rest of the match played in intermittent showers in Recife.
With a handful of players including Honda and Shinji Kagawa fading badly in the second half, the Ivorians struck twice through Wilfried Bony and Gervinho in the space of a few minutes after coach Sabri Lamouchi made an inspired substitution with the introduction of iconic striker Didier Drogba.