Japan and Iran set for battle in crucial World Cup qualifier

FIFAWORLDCUP - Two of Asia's top teams, Iran and Japan, will be battling it out in Tehran on Friday in the latest round of Asian qualifiers, a fixture seen as critical to both sides' FIFA World Cup hopes.

After a scrappy goalless draw last month away against Bahrain, Iran will be on the offensive - hoping to climb a point ahead of Group B leaders Japan in the second round of matches in the final qualifying stage.

And Japan, battling injury and facing a daunting 100,000-strong crowd of Iran supporters, are nevertheless hoping they can catch their confident hosts off-guard during the awkward assignment.

"It's the biggest dream of our team to be at the World Cup, and we will make that dream come true by defeating Japan," said Iran's Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic.

The continent's leading pair in the FIFA world rankings will be meeting for the first time since their goalless draw in the Asian Cup last July.

"The team is in very good shape," Ivankovic said, adding he had high expectations of Iran's trio of Bundesliga-based stars - Vahid Hashemian, Moharram Navidkia and Mehdi Mahdavikia.

Iran have the added advantage of having no player out with injury, as well as deafening support inside the Azadi stadium. "I'm more ready than ever. We must defeat the Japanese in Tehran. We badly need to win," Mahdavikia said.

The top two teams in each group qualify automatically for next year's tournament in Germany. The fourth team in Group B is Korea DPR.

Japan coach Zico, meanwhile, has included six overseas-based players in his squad, including Fiorentina midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata, back after almost a year's absence.

Nakata is expected to make up a powerful midfield quartet of Shinji Ono, Shunsuke Nakamura and Junichi Inamoto.

But with key defenders Makoto Tanaka and Alex suspended for this match and goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi sidelined by a broken finger, concerns remain over how their weakened rearguard will cope.

Adding to the pressure, the Iran game's referee will be Shamsul Maidin of Singapore, who issued a full six yellow and two red cards during a match between Japan and Bahrain in the Asian Cup semi-finals in August last year.

Nakata, Inamoto, Ono and three others are on the verge of receiving a one-game suspension for accumulated yellows. After facing Iran, Japan then return for a home game against Bahrain at the Saitama stadium near Tokyo on March 30.

"I know how important these two games are. We are going to play as if these are the final match of a tournament. We must concentrate much better than we did in the past to get three points from each game," said Zico.

"I know Iran are very strong. They have many experienced players like Ali Daei and Ali Karimi. They can turn the table round in any situation. It should be a really tough match, because Iran drew their first game and they should take the offensive against us at home.

"For us, it's an away game, but we are determined to also take the offensive for a win. We are ready to give 100 per cent in order to win a ticket for the World Cup."

Friday's kick-off will be at 6.00pm local time (13.30 GMT).