Japan's Shunsuke Nakamura says there will be no easy games in World Cup qualifying

"Our biggest rivals are Australia." the Celtic midfielder was quoted as saying at the weekend after Japan were drawn in final-round Group A with the Socceroos, Uzbekistan, Bahrain and Qatar on Friday.

"Many of them play in the [English] Premier League. They are big and physically strong," the 30-year-old playmaker told the Sports Hochi about Pim Verbeek's side.

"They overlap in a dynamic fashion. Quick passwork will be effective against their power soccer.

"On the contrary, they find Japan hard to handle," said Nakamura, who helped Celtic win a third straight Scottish Premier League title.

He added that Japan had put the "trauma" of their 3-1 defeat to Australia in the 2006 World Cup in Germany behind them.

The Blue Samurai avenged the loss when they beat the Socceroos on penalties in the 2007 Asian Cup quarter-finals.

"If possible, we want to secure a berth in the World Cup finals before our final qualifier," Nakamura added.

Tough final match

Japan play their opening qualifier against Bahrain away on September 6 and meet Australia on the road on June 17 in their final game.

Nakamura warned that the Uzbekistan players "are physically big and play European-style football. They have good forwards, too," he told the Nikkan Sports daily.

"Newspapers said we are luckier than in Group B. But it makes no difference as it is still tough [in Group A," he said.

"We must watch out for all the countries as they are raring to beat Japan."

Asian heavyweights South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia are in Group B, along with North Korea and the United Arab Emirates.

Takeshi Okada, Japan coach, said the group was "not bad in view of our team's potential", but warned: "There is not a single easy game in World Cup qualifying."

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