Japan took an early lead thanks to Shinji Okazaki’s goal in the ninth minute when the Shimizu S-Pulse striker headed home a rebound from his own shot.

The visitors then managed to hold off the Uzbeks and seal their fourth consecutive appearance at the World Cup finals although Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe was dismissed late on and Okada was also banished to the stands.

“I’d like to thank our players for their hard work,” said Okada, who celebrated his side’s World Cup qualification with his squad.

“It was a tough game, as we had expected, and our players fought hard until the very end of the game. They showed their mental toughness when our opponents wouldn’t let us play our brand of football.

“This is just the start for us. I’m grateful that we have got this opportunity.”

The 53-year-old coach was, however, shocked when he was told to leave the bench by Syrian referee Basma Huhsen shortly before the final whistle.

“It was my first red card as manager. I was telling Hasebe to leave the pitch when he was red-carded. I was just giving him an instruction, though. Obviously, they took it the wrong way.

“But I didn’t worry about the rest of the game as I believed we’d win.”

“I’d like to take the remaining two qualifiers to prepare for next year’s finals, and would like to let our players gain some top-class experience over the next year.”

Uzbekistan coach Mirdjalal Kasimov was naturally disappointed with the result that leaves their hopes of claiming third place and a play-off spot remote at best.

“First of all, I’d like to congratulate Japan for their World Cup qualification,” said Kasimov.

“It was a game that we couldn’t afford to lose. We were hoping to score first but we made a mistake and their opening goal changed our plans.

“Now we just have to wait for the result of the Bahrain and Australia game but I’m still hoping we have a chance.”