National team manager Vahid Halilhodzic took a swipe at his critics after guiding Japan to a place at the 2018 World Cup with a 2-0 win over Australia on Thursday night, before revealing that an unspecified issue in his private life almost forced him to miss the game.
"To the journalists, maybe not all of you but I'm sure that some of you wanted me out of my job," said Halilhodzic, who local media had reported would be fired if Japan failed to beat Australia.
"I might remain, I might not. But in either case, I want to praise the team. I'm very proud of them tonight. We have faced a lot of difficulties and challenges but they were like heroes tonight. We were playing against a quality team and I think this has set a standard."