18 Mar 2004(Thu)

Almost two years of hard work will be tested over 90 tense minutes on Thursday night when Japan play their final game in Group B of the Olympic qualifying campaign.

I must admit, after Japan left Abu Dhabi with seven points from three games, I thought it might be all over by now, and Japan would have enough points to make Thursday's finale against the UAE a "going away" party.

But as these latest results show, you can never predict or expect anything in football.

Japan's 1-0 defeat by Bahrain at Saitama Stadium on Sunday gave their rivals renewed hope, and Japan will have to set out to beat the UAE at National Stadium to stay on top.

Even then, a narrow victory might not be enough, if Bahrain beat Lebanon by a big margin at Nishigaoka. The matches kick off simultaneously so no team has an advantage of knowing their rivals' score.

On the other hand, Japan could draw and still go to Athens, or even lose and go through!

Anything can happen.

Japan are still in the driving seat, as they have a goal difference of plus six, compared to Bahrain's plus two. They both have 10 points from five matches, three more than the UAE, who are third with seven points and could still qualify if they beat Japan and Bahrain lose to Lebanon.

From a sporting and fair play point of view, I sincerely hope Japan qualify.

Bahrain's gamesmanship, with players feigning injury and staying down after the lightest of contact, has been a disgrace to the game, and to the "Olympic spirit," whatever that is supposed to mean these days.

Japanese fans were quick to catch on at Saitama, and full credit for jeering the Bahrain players.

I was also impressed with Japan's players for not giving Bahrain the ball back after the goalkeeper had been treated for a non-existent injury, after clearing the ball into touch near the end of Sunday's game.

This kind of behaviour is a terrible advert for the game, and for the millions of young fans watching on TV.

Steve Perryman, the former S-Pulse and Reysol manager, hated this tactic, and always said it proved one thing: that the players doing it, and their coach, obviously thought they were not good enough to win the game fairly.

I agree with Perryman 100 per cent, and I hope the referees do, too, on Thursday night.

It is going to be a tough game for Japan, and they are going to have to give maximum concentration and take their goalscoring chances.

Even though Japan beat the UAE 2-0 in Abu Dhabi, I cannot see Japan winning by more than one goal this time, if they can win at all.

For the sake of football I hope they do.

ends