Halilhodžić: I want 11 samurai warriors against Australia

Algeria’s former coach Vahid Halilhodžić asked his Japanese players to be « fierce fighters » in their match against Australians.

Japan will play against Australia on Thursday as part of the ninth round of Russia World Cup qualifiers 2018.

Halilhodžić was quoted by Japanese press on Wednesday, saying he needs “11 samurai warriors.”

Samurai is a Japanese word which means an old Japanese fighter.

“Japanese people are proud of this team and tomorrow is a massive match. We can’t afford to mess up. Nobody is going to give us free tickets to Russia, we have to really be up for it,” said the Bosnian coach.

Saudi Arabia were defeated by the UAE 2-1 on Tuesday while Iraq will face Thailand on Thursday.

Japan tops the list with 17 points before two rounds of the qualifiers. They are followed by Saudi Arabia and Australia with 16 points each. The UAE come fourth with 13 points followed by Iraq with 5 points.

Halilhodžić’s players will qualify to Russia World Cup if they beat Australia. Otherwise, they will have to win against Saudi Arabia and Australia would play against Thailand.