‘‘This is a victory of the Japanese spirit, of the Japanese courage and the willingness to be aggressive by taking on the opponents,’’ said Troussier.

‘‘We never worked out mathematically how we would qualify, we just always tried to play forward-looking, attacking football.’’

His half-time introduction of Morishima worked almost immediately with the midfielder scoring the opener three minutes after the restart.

‘‘I thought the players were nervous in the first half because they knew that they could not afford to concede a goal,’’ he said.

‘‘I used my joker in Morishima. We got the goal and we relaxed into the game.’’

Troussier is hoping people around the world now understand the quality of Japanese football.

‘‘It is not recognised as it should be, particularly in Europe,’’ said the Frenchman.

‘‘We have had a project that has been going for four years now and we have had the Japanese public behind us.

‘‘Their fantastic support has carried us from game to game and now into the second round.’’

As group winners, Japan avoided a clash with four-time champions Brazil and will now face Turkey in Miyagi on Tuesday.

‘‘We go into the next match with a lot of confidence and we are creating a lot of momentum around us,’’ he added.

Shunichiro Okana, president of the Japanese Football Association, praised all those involved in the side’s historic achievement.

‘‘I appreciate from the bottom of my heart, the players, the coach and all the staff,’’ he said.

‘‘Above all, I thank the Japanese supporters in each of the three venues.

‘‘They really are the 12th player. I want to say thank you to all fans of football.’’

Meanwhile Tunisia coach Ammar Souayah denied they were too negative as they went in search of the two-goal win that would have kept their tournament alive.

‘‘I think it is normal that you are cautious when you are playing against a team on its home ground,’’ he said.

‘‘We were playing with one forward and two wide players so maybe we weren’t that cautious.

‘‘In the second half we created a goal at a crucial time and it was difficult to bounce back.’’

Souayah did admit though that they expected to be knocked out in the group stages.

‘‘It was never our aim to reach the second round,’’ he said.

‘‘Our objective was principally to put in a good performance and to show Tunisian football in the best possible light.’’