Japan appointed Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni after Takeshi Okada stood down in July, having taken the "Blue Samurai" into the second round of football's biggest tournament before losing on penalties to Paraguay.

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Japan still hold a six-point lead over Jordan, who moved from bottom to second, at the top of Asian qualifying Group B and the Blue Samurai will secure a place at next year's finals if they avoid defeat against Australia in June.

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