Japan, which co-hosted the 2002 World Cup finals with South Korea, were bunched with Oman, India and Singapore at the preliminary draw in Frankfurt Friday.

"It makes no difference who our opponents will be," said Japan coach Zico, a Brazilian football legend. "What is important is our determination to reach the World Cup finals no matter how."

"We cannot take any country for granted because the capabilities of countries have become close. In particular, it is difficult to go through the first qualifying round as pressure there is more tremendous than in the finals," Zico said.

"Anything could happen in World Cup qualifiers," warned Saburo Kawabuchi, president of the Japanese Football Association.

He added, "I believe we will pull ourselves through by steadily winning each and every match without belitting or fearing our opponents."

"The group is a tough one in its own right," said Takeo Hirate, the association's general secretary, citing the presence of Oman, which beat Japan's archrivals South Korea 3-1 in an Asian Cup preliminary match in October.

"We will spare no effort in preparing for our first match in February," he said. Japan will meet Oman at home on February 18.

"India have also built a fine team," said Kozo Tajima, director of technical development at the association. "We fully expected that our opponents will be of such a level. I am determined to train the team without fail."

Japan reached the last-16 round in the last World Cup finals in which South Korea lost to Germany in the semifinals.