March 20, 2004
Japan is determined not show Singapore any mercy as their coach Zico named his squad.
7 foreign-based players Hidetoshi Nakata (Bologna), Shinji Ono (Feyernoord), Shunsuke Nakamura (Reggina), Junichi Inamoto (Fulham), Atsushi Yanagisawa (Sampdoria), Naohiro Takahara (Hamburg) & Takayuki Suzuki (Heusden-Zolder) are named for the game at Jalan Besar Stadium on March 31.
However, Zico dropped 8 players who took part in a drinking session during a training camp last month.
They include Tatsuhiko Kubo, who scored the goal in their 1-0 win over Oman in the 1st qualifier, & Yoshito Okubo, whose brace gave Japan's Under-23 side a 3-0 win over the United Arab Emirates in their final match of the Athens Olympic qualifiers.
Singapore, who lost 0-1 to India in their opening match, are expected to name their squad next week.
National coach Raddy Avramovic welcomed the news that Japan will be at full strength, saying it will be a good challenge for the Lions.
He felt it would motivate the Singapore players to prove themselves.
Also he stated he saw no difference between the Japanese players based at Japan or abroad as they are 1 of the best, if not the best, teams in Asia.
Singapore international & SAFFC player Daniel Bennett stated he cannot wait for the game to start.