Coach Zico said Monday he was confident that inclement weather and the last-minute arrival of some of his top players would not affect Japan's performance in Tuesday's friendly against Bosnia Herzegovina in Germany.
The match in Dortmund was Zico's last chance to run the rule over his European-based stars before the Asian champion moves to Germany for this summer's World Cup finals.
But preparations for the friendly were far from ideal. Junichi Inamoto and Naohiro Takahara only arrived Monday morning and the team was forced to train on a snow-covered pitch in freezing temperatures in Bonn on the eve of the game.
"This is my only chance to have my strongest side at my disposal before the World Cup. Obviously I am not satisfied with the way the preparations for this match have gone, but we have to try and take advantage of this chance," Zico said.
"In the 3 1/2 years that I have been Japan coach we have overcome a lot of hurdles. Typhoons, earthquakes and blackouts, you name it, and now with this snow we have experienced the full cycle," said the Brazilian.