Under-fire national team manager Takeshi Okada will lead Japan at the World Cup after surviving showdown talks with Japan Football Association president Motoaki Inukai on Monday.
Okada brushed off calls to quit after a 3-1 loss against South Korea on Sunday condemned Japan to third place at the four-team East Asian Football Championship, but Monday's emergency meeting fueled speculation that Inukai would make the decision for him.
With only four months to go until the World Cup begins, however, the president granted Okada a stay of execution arguing that it is now too late to change direction.