On Monday 19 June, SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) Head Coach MORIYASU Hajime appeared in an official press conference held at Panasonic Stadium Suita, where he shared his aspirations for the team’s second match of the KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2023 against the Peru National Team.

Coach Moriyasu experimented with a 4-1-4-1 formation against El Salvador on Thursday, as part of the team’s efforts to diversify its playing style and player pool in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The coach has made it clear that they intend to enter the match against Peru “with the same system as in the first match, but with a very different set of players” after claiming a comfortable 6-0 win, in part due to an early send-off for the opposition.

“I want the players to tackle the areas that need to be challenged, and to demonstrate their skills while also working in tandem as a team. In order to build a team that can win matches regardless of who is on the pitch, we need to broaden our player pool, and we hope to use this match as a steppingstone to expand our options.”

The Peru National Team played the Korea Republic National Team in Busan on Friday 16 June, winning 1-0 with Bryan REYNA scoring a goal with the assist provided by veteran striker, Paolo GUERRERO.

Peru finished fifth in the South American qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs, where they lost to Australia in a penalty shoot-out, missing out on their second consecutive World Cup appearance.

However, they drew 0-0 with FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ third-placed Morocco in an international friendly match played in March this year. They lost 0-2 to Germany a few days prior to this match, giving up the most goals in their last ten matches, but they have been solid in the other nine matches, conceding just two goals.

Regarding Peru, coach Moriyasu mentioned, “They are a strong team with very solid defence. They are also capable of making sharp transitions to launch speedy and dynamic attacks.” With this being their second match of the tour, the coach continued to comment, “We are certainly expecting them to be in better form than their match against Korea Republic.”

It will be the first time for the two countries to play each other since the KIRIN CUP SOCCER 2011, with Japan holding a record of one win, two draws, and two losses. Peru is currently ranked 21st in the FIFA rankings, while Japan is ranked 20th.

With the team set to compete in the South American qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, which starts in September, and next year’s CONMEBOL Copa America, Head Coach Juan REYNOSO commented, “We want to neutralise the Japanese offence and cause an upset.” When hearing what coach Moriyasu had to say about their defence, the Peruvian coach said, “We want to make them notice of our offence in tomorrow’s match.”

Both teams held an official training session at the match venue in the evening.

The SAMURAI BLUE’s session was held behind closed doors except for the first 15 minutes, in which the players were seen going through their warmup routine before conducting drills to go over their tactics.

ITO Junya (Stade de Reims), who did not appear in the first match against El Salvador, commented, “Peru is a team that can defend very well, so we need to take advantage of the few opportunities we have.”

Team captain, ENDO Wataru (VfB Stuttgart) also shared his take on the match, “The team is in a situation where we have to try many things, but as captain, I have to keep everyone focused on winning the match in front of us.”

The match between Japan and Peru is scheduled to kick off at 18:55 on Tuesday 20 June at Panasonic Stadium Suita.

SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) vs Peru National Team
Date: Tue. 20 June 2023 18:55
Venue: Panasonic Stadium Suita
Tournament information

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