Okada hints he'll quit after Japan exits World Cup

**Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, who was unable to get a glove on any of Paraguay’s penalties, wants another Japanese coach.

“With a Japanese coach, we can communicate directly,” Kawashima said. “It is an advantage for the Japanese team.” **

Oh dear. I just told my husband that I thought he had a chance outside of Japan but change my mind with that comment. The last thing Japan needs is a Japanese coach unless they somehow can convince Nakata to take over. There are no decent Japanese coaches around who have the experience it takes to create a winning team.

Surely a J-League club should take him on loan

They already have on a 6-month loan, but I forget which team has taken him on.

Jurgen Klinsmann? Maybe - but failed in 50% of the jobs he has taken: namely Bayern Munich. Did well in 2006 with the German national team, but that was also partly due to being the host nation, and a couple of lucky decisions going their way. Anybody remember Teddy Lucic's sending off?

Koki Mizuno? Maybe his time will come, but not if he remains in the Celtic reserve team. to be fair, never really seen him play well in Scotland. Surely a J-League club should take him on loan or something, help restore his confidence. Added trouble is now Celtic have Ki Sung Yeung, a younger & better option than Mizuno.

please Okada dont go! japan needs you more than other people! please stay!

Bungalow

there is no one to be blamed. Nippon played awesome game

ABSOLUTELY ! Never expected Team Japan to get this far . .esp with Okada as coach. Given the potentila i nthis Team, I think they could have closed better with a different coach, though. So I am not saddened to see Okada go.

japan choked, especially komano.......we need some bigger balls so get that ex-german national coach from the 2006 WC, jurgen kliensman?????..... or a gutsy south american coach that can kick some "konjyo" into the pussy mentality and teach some swift technical skills......okada was should be one and out:(.......adios amigo!

The Japanese come away in good credit even tho fell short of Okada's semi final prediction.......we can forget about that. However, the team was set up very defensively and aimed at containment of the opposition, with the notable exception of denmark where they played with less fear and really well, the other 3 games, cameroon, holland and paraguay was just negative football. However it prob allowed japan its best chance to progress to the 16 and players have got confidence from that. Despite the negative strategy it got them to the last 16 and they came away better than italy france or england thats for sure

So when did the switch occur? How did a team go from a 0-0 draw with African powerhouse Zimbabwe to getting to the second round of the World Cup?

Despite all the criticism by the clowns on JT (including myself), Japan actually gave a very good showing. Tulio proved he could play against some serious opposition and the Japanese keeper was also very good. Moreover despite yesterday game being rather boring, Matsui's shot in the first half was probably the best effort we have seen in the World Cup that did not result in a goal.

What happened to Koki Mizuno?

daisan, a very good question. IMO, he is the future of Japanese football. He maynot have the skill of Hasebe or the steel of Honda, but boy is he quick and boy does he try. He actually puts a good end product as a winger (a good shot or a good cross). What happened to him, Tony Mowbray.

It was unfortunate that Celtic changed managers after the 2008/9 season when Strachan left. Mowbray just didn't like Koki and let him rot in reserves. Justice is served as Mowbray got fired. That said, I doubt Neil Lennon will keep him on the books. Celtic have no money as do all scottish clubs so will likely sell to raise fnds for further purchases...

Japan could go this far because of the change in tactics and strong defense. What is sad is that Okada didn't realize the fortune they had meeting Paraguay (and not some of the other teams).

On Tuesday, the team could find no way past Paraguay’s defense,

They needed to tackle harder and push for the goal. What they did is lose most of the balls in the center and lonely Honda in front :-(

I thought Tulio was absolutely sensational.

He was sensational in that he did not score an own goal. thanks you, Tulio.

I don’t think I have anything left to do now

If this is how he feels well just let him go and hire asap an experienced European coach or someone like Oliveira who must be bored of wining the J League, even Stojkovic could do a good job, they have to play the Asian Cup next year, the one that Ossim failed to win but amazingly Zico could.

For the next World Cup in Brazil, Honda and the rest of the young players would have a lot more experience and let's just hope that more players can go abroad AND actually play. What happened to Koki Mizuno?

Sadly nowadays transfers are all about who can sell some jerseys and the Japanese market may not be very attractive, for example Barcelona is coming to Asia after the World Cup but not to Japan.

I like Okada slightly more than I did before the tournament began. Before that, I saw him as a dysfunctional coach who's sole motivation was to get to where South Korean rivals did in 2002, and his sole justification for stating that Japan COULD get there was simply because Japan's neighbours did. He constantly switched players around because they had no strikers, and could not find a combination that had any positive result.

Once they won a game, he sort of digressed and lost some of the bombast, and I found I actually respected him to an extent when he said things like, "We can't let this win get to our heads", "Our current success stems from the Cameroon victory", etc. He still blew it again a few times later, but still.

All that being said, I don't think he is a very good coach. While the team played VERY well after their first official WC game, I think it was more luck than skill in the first game (especially to be put against Cameroon). Had they lost that, who knows what would have happened. But it was the PLAYERS, not so much the coach, that changed. He should retire now, on a high note. I don't think he's such a bad guy, but nor do I think he became a sudden genius after the first match.

I am so happy today. Okada san should remain with the team in some capacity I think. My Honda was great too.

Quite a performance by Team Japan. Okada should feel good about that!

Have to give Okada credit for pulling the trigger and making the right changes when it was clear things weren't working. Unlike the much more highly paid and respected managers of Italy, France, and England who didn't.

Agree that Tulio and Nakazawa were excellent, BBC website live commentary last night said "this dude is seriously hard" about Tulio after he came back after getting wiped out by Kawashima. Both of them earned a chance to play in Europe if they are interested. Nobody is usually going to get too excited about signing a Japanese defender, but they were for sure noticed by a lot of people.

rockbuster - Agree Tulio was a rock in defence as was nakazawa. Tulio is now 29 so he may one more chance to play in 2014. Nakazawa unfortunately will likely have played his last world cup at 32. I felt the back four all played well and Komano should feel no shame.

Hasebe and Honda will be the fulcrum for the midfield and up front Okazaki is still young. The future of Japanese football will hopefully continue to develop.

I agree with the above comments. The Japanese played well, as a team - & thoroughly deserve a hearty welcome back home. Well done lads! Now, If you were to choose a Japanese coach, Id love to see Gambas coach, Nishino take over. He has a very astute football mind.

Here here Magpie

Japan's man of the tournament? Well, most people would say Honda - but I thought Tulio was absolutely sensational. Well done big man!!

there is no one to be blamed. Nippon played awesome game. I hadn't expected they were this good.

One had to lose and other had to win; luck was not on Nippon's side.

Okada san, otsukaresama deshita. I owe you an apology for constantly slagging you off before the world cup. No we didn't make the semi-finals, but you r team made us all proud. It was amster stroke to put in Kawashima instead of Narazaki, and topush Honda upfront. Your defenders repaid all the faith you had in them, by playing by playing close to 400 minutes of well orchestrated and solid defence. The midfields were often creative and the strikers got in 3 goals to get us to the round of 16.

My hats off to you sir!