'Maybe we defended too deep, but we had to defend to protect our lead.

'We needed to do that to get the result and that is what is important,' Zico said after his side had been completely dominated by Oman in the second period.

'Football is about crucial moments. After we made one small mistake we just couldn't take our chances,' responded Oman's Czech coach Milan Macala.

For the first half an hour, Japan had looked anaemic. Indeed, the Omanis, whose initial intentions were far from offensive, had looked the better team and could even have taken the lead when Fouzi Basheer forced Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi into a full stretch save from his 14th-minute header.

After 30 minutes, however, Nakamura decided it was time to put on a show.

He served notice by turning the Omani midfield inside out a few minutes before the goal, and then seized on a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area, twisting his body to an improbable angle so he could slice the ball into the far corner with the outside of his left foot.

Japan had struggled until injury time to find the only goal of February's World Cup qualifier with Oman.

The early goal this time did nothing to inject colour into the bland Japanese.

'We didn't have many chances, which is a problem,' Zico confessed.

'In our next matches we'll have to keep the ball better and not lose it so easily. And we have to create more chances.'

Oman, meanwhile, had to come out and attack the Japanese and in the second half they did it well enough to have at least earned a draw.

Bader Mubarak prodded Hassan Yousef's near-post pass just wide in the 53rd minute and then flashed a well-struck 74th minute effort just wide of the other upright, after Yousef Shaaban and Imad Ali had combined extremely well to work the ball deep into the Japan box.

As for the Japanese attack, virtually the only thrill they provided in the entire second half came just four minutes from the end when Alessandro dos Santos chipped the ball forward to substitute striker Masashi Moyoama who took on Oman's defence, turning one way, then the other, before firing his low shot the wrong side of the near post. The Chongqing crowd roared passionately for the Arab side, willing them on in the dying seconds. Their wishes were a whisker away from coming true deep in injury time.

In the night's other Group D match, Iran defeated Thailand 3-0, thanks to another piece of magic from the mercurial Ali Karimi whose dribbling skills set up Reza Enayati for the 70th-minute opener and won the penalty converted by Ali Daei four minutes from time. In between Javad Nekounam got the second with a header.