Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni says his Blue Samurai must not approach Saturday's World Cup opener against Cote d'Ivoire fearing defeat, and pointed to Spain's World Cup win four years ago as proof that losing the first match does not mean the end of the tournament.
"Starting on the right foot is important but there will still be two more matches to go and it doesn't mean that a team that doesn't score tomorrow or perform well is out of the tournament," the Italian coach told a news conference on Friday.
"Spain lost in their opening match four years ago (a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland) but then subsequently went on to win the World Cup," he said.