Soccer-Japan coach Okada blasts Okubo for red card

TOKYO, June 8 (Reuters) - Under-fire Japan coach Takeshi Okada let rip at striker Yoshito Okubo after his red card for a horror tackle in a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw in Oman.

Okubo was shown a straight red after an ugly lunge on Oman goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi in Saturday's Group Two clash in Muscat, prompting a furious reaction from his coach.

"What the hell were you doing?," Okada barked as his player trudged off the pitch.

"I kicked him," Okubo said.

"You idiot," Okada replied, according to Sunday's Japanese media.

"We paid for not taking our chances," added Okada. "The players battled well in the heat so we just have to accept the draw."

Okubo, who is known for his temper, was given his marching orders in the 75th minute after a Yasuhito Endo penalty had cancelled out Ahmed Mubarak's early opener for Oman.

The result kept Japan second in Group Two on seven points from four games, three behind leaders Bahrain, who were held 1-1 by Thailand at home.

The top two teams advance to the final round of Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.