Ahead of their away match against the Kyrgyz Republic National Team at the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) started their trainings on Monday 11 November at Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyz Republic.

After traveling for more than 20 hours, seven players who belongs to clubs in the J.League landed in Kyrgyz Republic, before arriving to their hotel at three in the morning. While these players rested at the hotel, six players who plays in Europe made their ways, as KAWASHIMA Eiji (RC Strasbourg), SCHMIDT Daniel (Sint-Truidense V.V.), NAGATOMO Yuto (Galatasaray S.K.), YOSHIDA Maya (Southampton FC), SAKAI Hiroki (Olympique de Marseille), and UEDA Naomichi (Cercle Brugge K.S.V.) arrived in Bishkek.

The team’s first training session was held in the evening, as the 13 players worked out at the training ground of FC Dordoi Bishkek, the 11-time champions of the Kyrgyz Premier League. Prior to the session, the club’s president and staffs wearing traditional dresses of Kyrgyz Republic welcomed the team. The team also spent time with the Japanese residents living in Kyrgyz Republic, as they took pictures with the kids before the training session.

With the players making the long travel following their weekend league matches, the team went through light menus to condition the players’ bodies, as the session lasted about an hour.

The entire squad is scheduled to be in Bishkek for the training session on Tuesday 12, as the team will prepare ahead of the match against the Kyrgyz Republic National Team on Thursday 14.

Coach and Players' Comments

MORIYASU Hajime, Coach of SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team)
Although the players have played their league matches in the weekend before traveling long ways to get here, they have shown great enthusiasm to get prepared ahead of the upcoming match. We will have very limited time to train, but the players must focus on conditioning themselves in the best way possible and I have told my players that we must get ourselves on the same page to win against Kyrgyz Republic. We must brace ourselves for a tough away match and use every second to prepare the team for this match. The opponents will certainly come out with great intensity, so we must focus on winning the first fifty-fifty ball, while showcasing quicker transition than our opponents. We will continue to prepare ourselves so that we can earn three points and fight with a clear vision to improve the team through this competition. We have no room for arrogance and the team must acknowledge that there are no guarantees to win any of the matches. However, I feel like our players are fully aware of that, so I am sure that we will be able to prepare ourselves without any problem.

DF NAGATOMO Yuto (Galatasaray S.K.)
When looking at the entire picture of the qualifiers, I think its important that we earn three points here, so we must be result oriented in this match. The weather in Bishkek is not too hot nor cold, and it’s perfect to play football. In order to pick up our rhythm, we will have to apply pressure from the start. I know our fans are expecting a win from us, so we hope to meet their expectations by showcasing both great performance and result.

MF HASHIMOTO Kento (F.C. Tokyo)
It is a lot colder in Bishkek than I expected, but I think its better than being too hot. With this being an away game, it is important that we show more intensity than the home team. We have been able to showcase our style of football for the entire 90 minutes in our previous matches, so we hope to prepare ourselves well so that we can continue that trend. This is a match we cannot afford to lose, so I will give my utmost efforts to showcase my best performance and help the team earn a victory.

FW SUZUKI Musashi (Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo)
Although we have won all three matches thus far, none of the matches were easy. Despite the long travel and the conditions of an away match, we still need to earn a victory, so we will continue to get our jobs done and showcase our performance to win the match. Regardless of who we face, we must take care of the fundamentals. We need to fight for the ball, show quick transitions, and outrun our opponent. If we fail to do any of these, we will struggle in the match, so we must make sure to cover all the basics. Since getting called up to the team in March, I haven’t scored a goal yet, so I hope to make a case for myself by scoring a goal in this match. If I can showcase the usual performance I am showing at my club, I believe the results will follow. I will play tenaciously to score goals and help the team win the match.

Schedule

*Local time
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and AFC Asian Cup China PR 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification - Round 2

Kyrgyz Republic National Team vs SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team)
Match Date: Thu. 14 November 2019 17:15 (20:15 Japan time)
Match Venue: Dolen Omurzakov Stadium, Kyrgyz Republic

Match Information

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