Japan coach Takeshi Okada has slammed the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for its refusal to allow his side to play a World Cup warm-up game in March. Okada had wanted to give his side a stiff test before next year's World Cup by tackling Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal away in a friendly on March 3. However, the AFC told Japanese officials they could not switch an Asian Cup qualifier with Bahrain scheduled for the same day, triggering an angry response from Okada. “It's a World Cup year,” the Japan coach told Wednesday's Japanese media. “If the AFC wants Asian teams to do well at the World Cup then it shouldn't schedule Asian Cup qualifying games on a FIFA international match day.” The Japan Football Association (JFA) announced it was planning to schedule 11 games before next year's World Cup in South Africa, including Asian Cup qualifiers. The “Blue Samurai” also play China, Hong Kong and fellow World Cup qualifiers South Korea at home in February's East Asian championships. Japan's opponents for friendlies on Feb. 2, April 7 and May 24 have yet to be confirmed while JFA officials are eager to add three more dates before the World Cup. Japan, which will be bidding to win its first World Cup Finals match on foreign soil in South Africa, has been drawn with Netherlands, Cameroon and Denmark in Group E. Nakamura not to walk out Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura will not be demanding a transfer away from Spain's Espanyol despite failing to cement a regular first-team place. The 31-year-old grumbled that he needed to “think about stuff” after being left out of Espanyol's La Liga match against Almeria at the weekend. However, Nakamura sought to allay concerns he was about to walk out on the club just months after arriving to a “Galactico” billing and comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo. “I didn't mean it that way,” Nakamura told Wednesday's Japanese media after his arrival from Spain for the Christmas break.
