Alberto Zaccheroni's first foray into international football culminated in a resounding success, and his second big tournament hinges on a meeting with his home country.
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Zaccheroni, a 60-year-old tactical expert from Italy, qualified Japan for the Confederations Cup by leading the team to the Asian Cup title in 2011. But the Japanese lost to Brazil 3-0 on Saturday in the opening match of this year's World Cup warm-up tournament.
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To make things more difficult, Japan will face Italy on Wednesday in Group A at the Arena Pernambuco.
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Zaccheroni says "when I started coaching I imagined many possible scenarios, but not this. Not the fact that I might find myself coaching a team playing against Italy."