Yemen coach Sami Hasan Saleh Al Nash has praised his side despite a 2-1 loss to Japan.

After going a goal down, Yemen fought back to equalize but were gunned down by Japan in front of their home fans.

Al Nash was positive in his appraisal of the match.

"Our players did all that they could do today," he said.

"We were not in a good shape as we have had a short stay here in Japan before the game and the cold weather annoyed us.

"I think the two sides played really tenaciously. We tried hard to block Japan's shots and protect our goal and the goal we scored came from our training ground.

"I thought we could have finished the game with a draw but we couldn't in the end. As Japan are a strong team, I don't think the result is overly depressing."