Japan to play Afghans, Syria on neutral soil
Japan will play their away 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Afghanistan and Syria on neutral territory later this year due to security concerns in the strife-torn countries. Japanese officials said Monday that the September 8 game against Afghanistan would be switched to Tehran, while the Blue Samurai will face Syria in Oman on October 8. Japan's foreign ministry has advised Japanese citizens not to travel to Afghanistan or Syria. Japan take on Singapore in their first game of the second round of Asian qualifiers for the Russian World Cup in Saitama on September 16 following a warm-up against Iraq in Yokohama five days earlier. Franco-Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic took over the Japan job after Mexican Javier Aguirre was dismissed as coach following the side's Asian Cup flop in January amid allegations of match-fixing dating back to a previous tenure in Spain. Aguirre was brought in after Japan crashed out of last year's World Cup under Italian Alberto Zaccheroni.
