YOKOHAMA, Japan, June 2 (Reuters) - Japan beat Oman 3-0 to get their World Cup qualifying campaign firmly back on track on Monday.

Captain Yuji Nakazawa, Yoshito Okubo and Shunsuke Nakamura

were on target in rainy Yokohama, relieving the pressure on

Japan coach Takeshi Okada following a 1-0 defeat by Bahrain in

March.

Japan have six points from three matches but still trail

Bahrain by three points in Group Two after the Gulf side beat

winless Thailand 3-2 in Bangkok later on Monday.

Nakazawa powered home a header to give Japan the lead in the

10th minute before Okubo made it 2-0 with a clinical finish

after 21 minutes.

Celtic midfielder Nakamura added a third goal three minutes

into the second half, turning cleverly on the edge of the box

and drilling a right-footed shot into the bottom corner.

Nakamura's goal was a collector's item coming via his

less-favoured right foot.

'That's normal,' he said with a sheepish grin. 'We put Oman

under pressure well as a team and opened them up with individual

skill. That will be the key to winning tight games.'

Okada's stewardship has been under intense scrutiny since

Japan were beaten in Manama.

Monday's matches were the first in a punishing run of four

2010 World Cup qualifiers in 20 days being played by the Asian

nations.

'We scored three good goals but we could have created more

opportunities to score,' said Okada, who took charge of Japan

for a second time last December.

'We should have been quicker to deliver crosses into the

danger area and looked after possession a bit better. We will

need to improve on that.'

Japan Football Association (JFA) chief Saburo Kawabuchi

sought to head off a potential flashpoint when former coach

Ivica Osim takes up an advisory post later this week by giving

the under-fire Okada a vote of confidence.

'There was a lot of variation to our play,' said Kawabuchi.

'The pressure on their defence from our midfield was something

we didn't have under Osim. We're finally seeing Okada's style.'

Oman coach Julio Cesar Ribas blamed injuries and a lack of

experience for his side's poor showing.

'The players were unable to hold their nerves,' said the

Uruguayan. 'We were missing five regular players and we need to

win our home games.'