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South Korea win against Japan 2 - 0 |
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Japan's final game on home soil prior to the World Cup finals ended in a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of South Korea on Monday evening.
Takeshi Okada's side fly to Europe and their Alpine training camp on Wednesday but were unable to generate any momentum at Saitama Stadium.
Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung scored with a fine effort from the edge of the penalty area after six minutes and Monaco forward Park Chu-young added a second with a late spot-kick.
Okada has been under pressure following an underwhelming run of form in recent months and was disappointed with the final result having also lost to South Korea in Tokyo the East Asian Championships in February.
Okada revealed following the game that he asked the president of the Japanese federation, Motoaki Inukai, if he should step down from his position following the defeat.
"As the president told me I should carry on, I guess I have no choice but do it," Okada said. ''The players gave it everything they had but we have lost twice in one year (to South Korea) and I feel very sorry about that.
''It is our job to get results and we couldn't do that and I feel responsible. We just have to move forward and keep believing in ourselves.''
South Korea coach Huh Jung-Moo added: "My players played their own game until the end. I'm happy about it. But we must improve further our counter-attacks, we need to do it more sharply."
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