Okada got one final break, which would probably be crucial. In the first match Okada coached, against Uzbekistan, Kazu received a fairly serious leg injury. Naturalised Brazilian Wagner Lopes, who took his place, scored a goal to secure a 1-1 draw. In subsequent matches, Okada had an excuse to leave Kazu off his roster, and as a result, was able to get the team to coalesce into the form they had shown earlier in the Kamo years. Japan went into Seoul knowing that a loss would send them out of contention, but the team responded with an inspired match and a 2-1 victory. This restored the team's confidence, and they demolished Kazakhstan in their final qualifier 5-1 to finish second in the group.

Japan's second-place finish qualified them to a playoff against Iran for the final spot in the Asia group. The match was played in neutral Malaysia, and a huge crowd of Japanese fans, their hopes restored, followed the team to Southeast Asia to cheer them on. Japan got out to an early lead, but Iran came back with two goals and seemed to be in control. But a late header by Shoji Jo knotted the score and sent it into golden goal extra time. With time running out, the speedy Masayuki Okano flasked out of the steamy Malaysian night to sink the winning goal and send his countrymen into hysterical joy

---

Unfortunately, Japan really had no chance in their initial World Cup. Facing Argentina and Croatia, two of the top teams in the entire tournament, their prospects were miserable to begin with. As it was, the team acquitted themselves respectably, losing just 1-0 to both powerhouses, though their disappointment at just falling short against Croatia produced a letdown that carried through to their match against Jamaica, which they lost 2-1. Despite having done all that anyone could have expected of him as a "caretaker coach", Okada was assigned the blame for Japan's swift exit, and in the face of harsh criticism, he resigned shortly after returning to Japan.

But in some ways, Okada may have had the last laugh. Written off as a loser because of his failure at WC2002, Okada was banished to obscurity, and had to struggle in various assistant capacities before landing a coaching job with a weak second-division club, Consadole Sapporo. Yet just six months after taking the reins of the club, Okada had whipped them into shape, and Sapporo were at the top of the second division and headed for promotion. After two years of coaxing top-flight results out of what was otherwise a J2 team, Okada "retired" at the end of 2001, only for Consadole to go into an immediate tailspin and fall all the say to the bottom end of the J2 over the next three seasons. Soon thereafter, Okada was coaxed to take the head coach position at the talented but disorganised Yokohama Marinos. He immediately turned the team around and took them to consecutive league titles over the next two seasons.

As far as his skills as a national team coach, Okada deserves credit for doing a fine job in what was basically a no-win situation. Though he took a great deal of criticism as the coach who dumped Kazu from his squad on the eve of the 1998 World Cup, his later results with Sapporo and Yokohama have proven his ability as a coach beyond any doubt. His "difficult" personality and blunt candor even with top league bosses might pose problems for him at the National Team level, but even so, he is almost always mentioned as one of the top candidates whenever the JFA begins looking for a new national team coach.

Japan National Team Members Under Okada
Name	Position	Team	Age	Height
Yoshikatsu KAWAGUCHI	GK	Yokohama Marinos	22	181
Seigo NARAZAKI	GK	Yokohama Flugels	21	185
Masami IHARA	DF	Yokohama Marinos	30	182
Yutaka AKITA	DF	Kashima Antlers	27	179
Norio OMURA	DF	Yokohama Marinos	28	180
Naoki SOMA	DF	Kashima Antlers	26	175
Akira NARAHASHI	DF	Kashima Antlers	25	170
Eisuke NAKANISHI	DF	JEF United Ichihara	24	174
Daisuke ICHIKAWA	DF	Shimizu S-Pulse	17	177
Toshihiro HATTORI	DF	Jubilo Iwata	24	178
Motohiro YAMAGUCHI	MF	Yokohama Flugels	28	177
Hiroshi NANAMI	MF	Jubilo Iwata	24	176
Hiroaki MORISHIMA	MF	Cerezo Osaka	25	168
Hidetoshi NAKATA	MF	Bellmare Hiratsuka	21	175
Takashi HIRANO	MF	NAGOYA Grampus	23	178
Tsuyoshi KITAZAWA	MF	Verdy Kawasaki	29	170
Shunsuke NAKAMURA	MF	Yokohama Marinos	19	178
Shinji ONO	MF	Urawa Reds	18	175
Shoji JO	FW	Yokohama Marinos	22	178
Masashi NAKAYAMA	FW	Jubilo Iwata	30	178
Masayuki OKANO	FW	Urawa Reds	25	175
Atsushi YANAGISAWA	FW	Kashima Antlers	20	177

Japan's WC 1998 National Team