Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic was pleased with the improvement his players showed in the second half of a friendly 1-1 draw away to Iran on Tuesday but felt a draw was a fair result.
Japan rarely threatened in the early stages and the four-time Asian champions fell behind on the stroke of halftime when Mahdi Torabi smashed home after goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa had parried Ashkan Dejagah's penalty.
But Yoshinori Muto grabbed Japan's equalizer with a header three minutes into the second half and he was denied a second by a crucial save from Iran goalkeeper Ali Reza Haghighi in what turned into a bad-tempered match at Azadi Stadium.