AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 - - Japan's Asian Cup Hopes Flying With Keisuke Honda

DOHA — Japan's World Cup hero Keisuke Honda is ready to orchestrate attacking football against largely defensive rivals at the Asian Cup, as the Blue Samurai aim for a record fourth continental title. 

"My personal goal and the team's goal are one and the same. We are targeting the title no matter who we must fight," the CSKA Moscow midfielder said ahead of Japan's Asian Cup opener against Jordan on Sunday.

"All our players are hoping to go offensively. We will be persistent in attacking," said the straight-talking 24-year-old.

In Group B, Japan will also face Syria and fellow three-time champions Saudi Arabia, who beat them in the 2007 semi-finals.

"If we cannot play our brand of football against Jordan and Syria, we can never do it in the semi-finals and the final," added Honda, known as "Kaiser Keisuke" in Holland where he led VVV Venlo as an attacking midfielder after moving from J-League Nagoya Grampus in 2008.

"My role is to help accelerate the speed in switching from defense to offense."

At the World Cup in South Africa last June, Honda played as the lone striker for goal-shy Japan and scored in their 1-0 upset of Cameroon and a 3-1 rout of Denmark.

They lost 1-0 to the Netherlands but reached the last-16 for the first time on foreign soil before bowing to Paraguay on penalties after a scoreless deadlock.

Honda said Japan should have fought more aggressively on the big stage.

"It was not that we were defensive at the World Cup but we could not just attack," he said.

Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni is expected to place Honda in his favorite position just behind the frontline after being forced to play as a defensive midfielder for CSKA since he joined them in January 2010.

Honda, however, scored a goal and set up another to help the Moscow side clinch a 3-2 aggregate victory over Sevilla in the Champions League, becoming the first Japanese player to reach the quarter-finals of the premier event.

"It's been a while since I last played in a front position in an official match. I am keen to see how much I can do."

While he toiled at the rear of the CSKA midfield, Borussia Dortmund rookie Shinji Kagawa has emerged as a new Japanese star in Europe, scoring eight Bundesliga goals before the winter break.

Kagawa, just 21, who failed to make the World Cup but was given the number-10 shirt number for the Asian Cup, is expected to lead Japan's goal scoring at the continental showcase.