Moriyasu, Endo calmly confident ahead of Asian Cup knockouts

Manager Hajime Moriyasu and captain Wataru Endo said Japan are gearing up nicely ahead of Wednesday's Asian Cup round-of-16 clash with Bahrain in Qatar, where the tournament's most successful nation is seeking its fifth championship.

After finishing as runners-up with some nervous moments and a defeat to Iraq in Group D, the Samurai Blue, 17th in the FIFA rankings, have had a six-day interval to ready themselves to face 86th-ranked Group E winner Bahrain in Doha, hoping to improve on their 8-2 head-to-head record.

"The players are heading into the match in good condition both mentally and physically," Moriyasu said Tuesday. "(Bahrain) is a difficult opponent and it'll be a tough match, but I'm sure our players will show their abilities on the pitch confident of what we've been doing."