Former Liverpool and France manager Gerard Houllier has urged Japan to cast aside its inferiority complex and close the gap on the world's leading soccer nations.
Houllier was the head of FIFA's Technical Study Group at the World Cup in Brazil last summer, where Japan crashed out in the first round after two meek defeats to Cote d'Ivoire and Colombia and a goalless draw against Greece.
But the Frenchman, who was in Tokyo over the weekend to take part in a three-day coaching conference, believes the Samurai Blue are capable of far more than they delivered in Brazil, with self-confidence the key to making good on their potential.