TRIBUN-VIDEO.COM- After selecting his 26 best players, Japan coach Moriyasu Hajime has set a high target: qualifying for the quarter-finals at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which is only eleven days away. Japan coach, Hajime made a bold decision in assembling his squad. Surprisingly, he got rid of midfield player, Genki Haraguchi, and striker Yuya Osako, who were important drivers in the qualification journey of the Japanese team nicknamed the Blue Samurai. “I can’t call everyone who is looking forward to this World Cup, but I thank and respect everyone who has expressed their desire to represent Japan,” said Hajime. “We are a tough group that will fight until the end. Our target is the quarter-finals, nothing less than that,” he stressed. “We realize getting there will not be easy and will require the support of our fans and the entire country. “Hopefully, the outlook we have in the end will be better than the one we had in the past,” Hajime said while speaking at a press conference in Japan. The Samurai Blue squad this time relies heavily on new faces. Only six players who graduated from the 2018 World Cup finals are currently still around. They are goalkeepers Eiji Kawashima, Yuto Nagatomo, Maya Yoshida, Hiroki Sakai, Wataru Endo, and Gaku Shibasaki. Undoubtedly, Hajime was under great pressure with so much hope for him to lead Samurai Blue to achieve the best ranking. This will be their seventh consecutive participation on the World Cup stage. They first qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France. Since then, the Blue Samurai has never missed competing on the most prestigious football championship stage in the world. Hajime’s squad won tickets to the 2022 World Cup after beating Australia 2-0. These results made them occupy the top two positions in Group B of the third round of the 2022 World Cup Qualifications in the Asian zone, below Saudi Arabia, and have the right to qualify for Qatar. Unfortunately, the Samurai Blue team are in one of the toughest groups consisting of former champions Germany, and Spain, as well as Costa Rica in Group F. Hajime, however, has put his faith in the strikers who will make their debut at the World Cup finals in the squad led by the likes of Kubo Takefusa, and Tomiyasu Takehiro. Brentford midfielder Mitoma Kaoru has also been included in the squad although he is yet to regain full fitness following the injury he suffered two weeks ago. “During the selection process, we talked about those who had no World Cup experience. Experience is clearly important. “But we rely on the ambition of those who want to be in the World Cup, even though they lack experience,” added Hajime explaining his philosophy. The Blue Samurai Team conducted a trial first against another World Cup participating country, Canada, in the United Arab Emirates, November 9 local time. After that, they were ready to fight in Group F to achieve an ambitious target: qualifying for the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time. (Tribunnews/den) Direct Points – Japan targets quarter-finals – Only six players from the 2018 World Cup – Hajime prefers players with high ambitions Japan Profile FIFA Ranking: No. 24 Regional Ranking: 2 (AFC) World Cup appearances (last): 7 (Russia 2018) Best finish: Top 16 in 2002, 2010 and 2018 Road to Qatar: Group B runner-up Qualifying Record: 7W-2K-1S Coach: Hajime Moriyasu (Japan) since August 2018 Key Players: Takumi Minamino (Monaco / France), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal / England), Maya Yoshida (Schalke / Germany) 26 Japanese Players Goalkeeper: Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt, Eiji Kawashima . Defenders: Miki Yamane, Hiroki Sakai, Maya Yoshida, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Shogo Taniguchi, Ko Itakura, Hiroki Ito, Yuto Nagatomo, Yuta Nakayama. Midfielders: Wataru Endo, Hidemasa Morita, Ao Tanaka, Gaku Shibasaki, Kaoru Mitoma, Daichi Kamada, Ritsu Doan, Junya Ito, Takumi Minamino, Takefusa Kubo, Yuki Soma. Attackers: Daizen Maeda, Takuma Asano, Ayase Ueda. Japan Formation Forecast (4-3-3): Kawashima; Tomiyasu, Yoshida, Itakura, Nagatomo; Endo, Tanaka, Morita; Kubo, Asano, Minamino Japan Match Schedule Wednesday, 23 November 2022 23.00 WIB: Germany vs Japan Sunday, 27 November 2022 17:00 WIB: Japan vs Costa Rica Friday, 2 December 2022 02.00 WIB: Japan vs Spain List of 32 Teams Participating in the World Cup Group A: – Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands Group B: – England, Iran, United States, Wales Group C: – Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland Group D: – France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia Group E: – Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan This article was published on Tribunnews.com with the title, https://www.tribunnews.com/piala-dunia-2022/2022/11/10/ini-target-timnas-jepang-di -2022-world-cup-in-qatar-blue-samurai-aiming-to-qualify-at-minimum-to-this-round?page=all.
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