By GUS FIELDING
BONN (Kyodo) Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi has welcomed Hidetoshi Nakata's latest outburst and hopes the outspoken midfielder's recent criticisms have the required effect as the team prepare for next week's World Cup opener against Australia.
Nakata slammed his teammates for their lack of passion in Sunday's sloppy 1-0 win against lowly Malta and claimed the team was nowhere near ready for their crunch Group F match against the Socceroos in Kaiserslautern.
The Bolton Wanderers star had already complained that the mood in the camp was "a bit too friendly" and questioned the attitude of the less experienced players in the team.
"The way we played against Malta was awful so he had every right to be angry," Kawaguchi told reporters after training on Tuesday.
"It's natural to voice your dissatisfaction when things aren't going the way you want them to," said the 30-year-old, who played with Nakata on Japan's World Cup debut at France '98.
"We are carrying a massive weight of expectation. We know we can play a lot better than the way we did against Malta but we didn't. But we haven't interpreted his (Nakata's) comments as being negative."
"Everyone knows how badly we played and maybe that has given us a greater sense of urgency," the former Portsmouth keeper added.
Japan has been hit with a spate of injuries to key players including striker Atsushi Yanagisawa and wingers Alessandro Santos and Akira Kaji and has just six days to iron out the creases in the team.
"We know we won't beat anyone if we play like we did against Malta but I think the level of motivation will heighten over the next week," said Kawaguchi.
Appearing in its third successive World Cup finals, Japan also plays Croatia and Brazil in the first round.