Japan’s footballers eye boost against Brazil

SINGAPORE— Japan’s football team have received a short sharp shock in the form of new coach Javier Aguirre, and the players say the former Mexico mentor is exactly what the side needed.

Following their exit from the World Cup after the group stages, Japan have arrived in Singapore for tomorrow’s friendly with Brazil at the National Stadium, as they continue preparations for the defence of their Asian Cup crown in Australia next year.

Event organisers World Sport Group said in a statment yesterday (Oct 12) that all 55,000 match tickets have sold out completely ahead of match day.

Aguirre is known for being a no-nonsense character who knows how to get the best out of his players, as was recognised by Japanese defender Yuto Nagatomo: “I think his strategy and coaching methods are good; although he is strict, he is a very approachable person.

“His training is short and very intensive, and the speed in which we have to complete his sessions, I think, benefits us. It will be a difficult match against Brazil, but we will work hard to get a result. This is a new team under a new coach and it is a new start for us,” the Inter Milan star added.

The Brazil team flew in from China yesterday morning and headed straight to their hotel, following their 2-0 win over arch-rivals Argentina in a friendly in Beijing the night before.

And while the Brazilians relaxed in their Singapore base, the Samurai Blue were sweating it out under the scorching morning sun, as coach Aguirre put them through their paces at 10.30am at the Bishan Stadium.

The two teams’ development since the World Cup has seen them take very different trajectories. After the humiliating 7-1 defeat in the semi-finals at the hands of eventual champions Germany, new Brazilian coach Dunga has started to overhaul his team and they remain unbeaten, following 1-0 friendly wins over Columbia and Ecuador last month, and Saturday’s win over Argentina.

In the same period, Japan have lost 2-0 to Uruguay and drawn 2-2 with Venezuela, before scraping a 1-0 victory over Jamaica on Friday, adding to the perception that Aguirre needs an out-and-out goal scorer as they head towards the Asian Cup.

It is hard to look beyond a Brazil win tomorrow night, but if Japan can hold the South American giants to a draw, it would be a genuine step in the right direction.

As goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima observed, no one should be judging Aguirre on his first three games at the helm. “We are still on the way to rebuilding our team and we are on the way to becoming stronger,” said Kawashima, who turns out for Belgian side Standard Liege. “Brazil are one of the strongest teams in the world and it will be a good experience for us and we must make full use of it.”

Correction: In an earlier version of this story, it was reported that Japan drew 0-0 with Venezuela. This is incorrect. The Japan-Venezuela scoreline was a 2-2 draw. We had earlier also identified the team from Japan as Blue Samurai. The correct name of the team is Samurai Blue . We are sorry for the errors.