1–2 by UAE because of a wrongly disallowed Japanese goal. Nevertheless, the Japanese media called questions on his selection of squad. Since then, media criticism of his strategy and his selection of squad has haunted him throughout his office. He abandoned the decade-long Japanese traditional playing style of short passes, instead, he emphasized intense fighting for the ball (as he called it in French, "duel") and quick pace football. His most controversial call was to drop Keisuke Honda (AC Milan), Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund) and Shinji Okazaki (Leicester). Another controversial call was to put Hotaru Yamaguchi, a player in the domestic second division, to his starting lineup. Finishing the group with 6 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses with 7 conceded goals, Japan's performance was inconsistent, yet it secured crucial victories at critical moments to earn itself the top spot. The two critical moments was first, winning 2–1 against Saudi Arabia in November 2016 to end the first half of the group matches in the first place; second, beating Australia 2–0 in August 2017 to secure top spot and qualified to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It is at these two moments the Japanese media temporarily admitted Halilhodžić is right on his strategy and his selection of squad. Yet they were called into questions once again after Japan's poor performance in the international friendlies in October and November against Haiti, Brazil and Belgium. In December, Halilhodžić summoned his second and third team to 2017 East Asian Cup. Half of the team were uncapped. This unconventional inexperienced Japan team lost to South Korea 1–4. The Japanese media saw this as a humiliating defeat. Without realizing the Japan–South Korea football rivalry, Halilhodžić comments "I was amazed by South Korea's explosiveness of power, technique and control of the game. South Korea dominated us in every way." His comments made himself under siege by the Japanese media for weeks. Halilhodžić was dismissed in early April 2018, following friendlies with non-World Cup teams—last minute draw with Mali and 1-2 loss to Ukraine, with former international Akira Nishino named the new head coach. JFA President Kozo Tashima told reporters at a news conference, that poor results and a lack of “communication and trust” with the players as the reasons for Halilhodžić's dismissal. Halilhodžić's spiky personality frequently ruffled feathers after arriving in Japan to take over from Javier Aguirre in March 2015, and rumors of his impending dismissal swirled