The Italian specialist, who is visiting Uzbekistan for the first time, has said that judging by the prevailing atmosphere in country, Japan has to assume that tomorrow’s match will attract the attention of hundreds of thousands of local fans.

“Play on the road in crowded stands is extremely difficult, but when you consider that a rival will be a strong team like Uzbekistan, this complexity will be doubled.

“For this reason, tomorrow's match will be a challenge for us. Nevertheless, I hope that we will be able to show our football and get a positive result,” said Zaccheroni.

Zaccheroni has also said that he will not compare Uzbekistan to DPR Korea's capabilities in the fight for a way out of the group since to date they have played only one round of matches in the third qualifying round.

“I would not like to compare the strengths and opportunities of Uzbekistan to that of DPR Korea. One team we've played, the other we just will.

“There is no doubt that these teams have great potential. The talk about the chances of reaching the next round is too early, because to date we have played only one round,” he said.

Despite the ominous name of the opponents, head coach of Uzbekistan Vadim Abramov has said that in the upcoming match his team will enter the field only for the sake of victory.

“We are very pleased that tomorrow we will play against the champions of Asia. There is an effective team in Japan no doubt.

“Despite this, we're going to show our football and win. I hope that we will be able to give a (champions’) holiday to the Uzbek people,” he said.

The Japanese team, aiming for a fifth straight appearance at the FIFA World Cup since their debut at France 1998, left for Tashkent Saturday to face Uzbekistan after beating DPR Korea 1-0 on Friday.

Their qualifying group for Brazil 2014 also includes Tajikistan, who lost 1-0 to the Uzbeks at home.