Troussier salutes home backing

Coach Philippe Troussier thanked the Japanese people for inspiring their country to a first-ever World Cup win.

The co-hosts beat Russia 1-0 thanks to a goal from Arsenal midfielder Junichi Inamoto.

‘‘It is a huge moment for football in Japan that we are living right now,’’ said French coach Troussier.

‘‘This is important for both Japanese football and the nation.

‘‘But I would like to stress that as well as the victory there is the way of playing and the manner.

‘‘We want to show these fabulous people how much confidence they have given to us over the last four years.

‘‘We want to give them back this confidence and show them this is something very special to us.

‘‘We want to carry on and qualify and show the people in Japan that we can play marvellous football.’’

But rather than single out individuals, Troussier preferred to praise his team as a whole.

‘‘We had a lot of pressure on our shoulders and tonight we saw a brilliant Japanese side playing, especially in this second game when we needed it,’’ he said.

‘‘I wish to congratulate the group because we knew before the tournament that the solidarity would be the key word for Japan and we had to play as a collective.

‘‘They played together as a team and did a great job. I am very proud of being coach of this team.

‘‘Everybody brought something important to the match and the whole performance would give them more confidence.’’

He now hopes they can go on to make the last 16 for the first time, but he warned they still have to finish the job.

‘‘Our main goal is to go very far but some times football is very illogical so we are going to concentrate and show we can qualify in our next game,’’ he said.