Senegal twice took the lead against Japan, but former CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda, who replaced Shinji Kagawa after the half-time break scored his team’s second goal, which earned his side a point.

“I think I can be satisfied with the substitutions I made today. Honda had a great impact. His movement was dynamic, scored an equalizer and got forward. We were aiming for that… We were generally aiming to play aggressively, but we had to alter our tactics during the game, because we had to equalize twice,” Nishino told journalists.

Nishino also praised his side for not allowing Senegal to play their natural game and use their physical advantage against Japan.

Japan will next play against Poland on Thursday, while Senegal will face Colombia on the same day.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the matches being played in 11 cities across Russia.