Today, friendly match of Japan v Germany was held in Wolfsburg. The match of Japan v Germany in Germany was the first time in about 17 years since the match held on May 30, 2006, and at that time Shunsuke Nakamura played from the start and it was draw (2-2).
Japan, led by Moriyasu, will play against Germany for the first time in about 10 months since the first game of group stage in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Moriyasu looked back on the previous game that won against Germany, and talked about his enthusiasm for today’s game, expectations for the team, and game plan with the theme of increasing the time to take initiative in both offense and defence.
Moriyasu: “The fact that we were able to win the game against Germany in World Cup realized development. However, Germany taught us by performance that we still have some parts that are not enough to be strong team, and we have to develop further.
“I want to make it the best game that we can understand what level our current team is at without sticking to the results of the previous game. I want our team to demonstrate defense and attack necessary for our team to win the world’s strong teams.
“We are going to do it while taking advantage of our past experience to increase chances of attack and intentionally increase the number of times we take the ball even in defense. Germany has tried 3 backline system in June, and has variety of tactics, such as changing system from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 depending on situation, but we will also start at 4-2-3-1 and change system flexibly.
“I think we have to increase the choice of attack while increasing the number of times we switch aggressively from defense to attack. I think this game will be very tough, but I told our players that want them to work on tenacious challenge, which is our strength.
“The reason why we were able to participate in World Cup 7 times in a row and win against Germany and Spain is because German players and managers cooperated with development of Japanese football. I would like to express my gratitude to Germany once again. But I hope to make it game that will lead to further development for our team.”
On the other hand, players each responded to interviews after training at Volkswagen Arena yesterday. The training was only released for the first 15 minutes. Players did running, stretching, training to strengthen agility, and played mini-game. In the four days of training after Glasgow Derby, both Daizen and Kyogo have been playing as striker, and there is possibility that one of them will play from start in today’s game. Celtic’s Japanese Boy said in interview as follows.
Daizen: “In the game against Germany in the World Cup, the opponent had a long time to hold the ball. This time, holding the ball as long as possible is something we have to work on. Not only me, but also other players developed, so it’s important how we use our talents in the game.
“This time, we were able to have a longer preparation period than usual, so I think we were able to prepare well together. I think our defence is also much more organized than last time. It may be difficult to do all what we should do in the game, but I think we can beat Germany if we can do solidly what we are doing now in the game.
“It is said that Germany is not in good condition now, but they are more perfect team have great players. However, we don’t care too much about such things, and I want to beat Germany with the feeling of challenger.”
Kyogo: “My own condition is not bad. I’m sure I’m able to prepare very well, and I want to help our team by scoring goals. Regarding the game against Germany in the World Cup, I was cheering for Japan to win purely as a fan, not as player.
“Japan showed me really good game, and it was very stimulating for me, so I think I was able to develop another step from there. I want to express my development firmly on the pitch and score goals for the team as many goals as possible, and I will run devotedly to help our team not only goals but also defence.
“First of all, I want to contribute to our team with my strength, tactics against defender, and respond to all situations while being conscious of link-up with my teammates so that it will lead to activation of attacks in build-up. I will do my best to show good game to everyone who supports our team.”
That’s all. It’s finally kick-off in about an hour (at time of writing). Hansi Flick, the manager of Germany, said, “Japan has great players, is very trained and very interesting team.”
Let’s see what kind of performance Celtic’s Japanese Bhoys will do as key man of attack in the game.
Well here how today’s match played out with Japan running out emphatic 4-1 winners over Germany…
Yatao
