Michael Church in South Africa

Twelve years in the making, Japan finally earned their first World Cup win on foreign soil, in the process capping a remarkable three days for Asian football.

While South Korea travelled to South Africa confident of success - and duly delivered with a 2-0 win in their opening game against a poor Greece team - the same could not be said of Takeshi Okada's Blue Samurai.

A raft of disappointing results and even more dismal performances prior to and following their arrival in South Africa suggested Japan would be one of the first teams to be booking flights out of Johannesburg at the end of the group stages.

However, Monday's win over Cameroon in Bloemfontein - achieved via Keisuke Honda's close-range strike in what was unquestionably the worst game of the tournament so far - means the three-time Asian champions now retain hopes of progressing to the last 16 no matter what the result is in their next encounter.

That comes against the Netherlands on Saturday, but the fate of the Japanese most likely rests on the outcome of their game with Denmark in Rustenburg on June 24. Victory over Morten Olsen's side will ensure progress for Japan and keep alive their chances of a semi-finals place - Okada's oft-stated target, which has been roundly ridiculed throughout the build-up to the World Cup.

Of course, it's too early for Okada to be having anything like the last laugh. But he can at least feel vindicated by virtue of the win over Cameroon, if not by the nature of the performance. The victory will also lift a major millstone that has hung around the neck of the Japanese and, in particular, Okada. While Japan won twice in the group stages of the 2002 tournament, those successes were achieved on home soil under the guidance of enigmatic French coach Philippe Troussier.