Inamoto wants to beat Turkey next (Allsport).
INAMOTO WANTS MORE OF THE SAME
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Japan midfielder Junichi Inamoto has set his
sights on a place in the last eight of the World Cup.
The Arsenal man has belied his fringe player status at Highbury with his
performances for an impressive looking Japan.
And they go into Tuesday's second-round clash with Turkey having, with South
Korea, proudly maintained the record of every host nation making it past the
first phase.
Having achieved that, Inamoto says the players now want to go as far as
possible, for the sake of their enthusiastic fans.
He told the Japan Times: "I'm glad we've attained our aim of getting through
the first round, and I'm also happy to see so many people in the nation
celebrating.
"But the tournament isn't over yet and we need to prepare for our next
game."
Inamoto, who scored a goal in each of Japan's opening two group games, knows
it will not be easy on Tuesday.
They come up against a Turkey side who were unlucky to be beaten by Brazil in
their opening group match, before bouncing back to go through with a draw
against Costa Rica and 3-0 win over China.
Inamoto added: "(Turkey) has some strong sides in its domestic league, and
some of its players play in Europe with teams such as Bayer Leverkusen.
"They will not be an easy opponent at all.
"But we'll play as we always do - try to keep our defence solid and go on the
attack."
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