One day before their game against Honduras in the 2014 Kirin Challenge Cup, Javier Aguirre, the head coach for SAMURAI BLUE (Japan men's national team), spoke to the media at a news conference on 13 November. The Mexican said, ''Tomorrow's game is a game we've got to go for a win.''

Aguirre returned from the hall of fame ceremony in Mexico and reunited with the team this day. At the beginning of the official practice session that was held at the game venue, while the players were warming up their bodies by dribbling in narrow areas, Aguirre was taking memos, listening to his assistant Stuart Gelling.

Meanwhile, Vissel Kobe midfielder MORIOKA Ryota, who was added on the team as a late acquisition, arrived on the team and began practicing with it with high energy.

''I'd left for Mexico, having programmed on things the team were supposed to work, but as far as I watched on the videos, the team worked on things with professional attitudes and concentrations while I was absent,'' Aguirre said with a satisfactory expression. ''So even if we won't be able to play well, we are not going to make any excuses.''

Aguirre also revealed that he would start midfielder ENDO Yasuhito while he named Endo, midfielders HASEBE Makoto and HONDA Keisuke captains of the team. ''Hasebe has a lot of experience and is a present that brings stability the team both on and off the pitch,'' Aguirre said.

On Honduras, Aguirre commented, '' Honduras are a young team but they always try to put up good plays. Tomorrow, we might play a game with a lot of contents and it might be a see saw game.'' Honduras was eliminated in the group stage in this summer's FIFA World Cup, and hired Herman Medford as coach in July to start a new system.

Under Medford, who had come to Japan to play in the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup leading Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica, Honduras has played six contests since September, going 3-1-2, including a draw against the United States away last month.

On the team on this trip, they have nine players that competed in the World Cup in Brazil, including Wigan's Maynor Figueroa. They also had an official practice at the venue, and worked for about an hour.

It will be the third time for the two sides to play against each other, and Japan has come with a win and a draw.

Comments

Javier AGUIRRE Head Coach
We are playing at home tomorrow, and need a win to get the thorn that have stuck in all of our members since our defeat in October. We practiced on our formations and pressing from up front in order to prepare for tomorrow's game. Since we have guys like Endo, Konno, Kagawa and Honda who are all good at taking care of the ball, we hope to play a good game. I watched our practices on videos of while I was absent, they were able to do things as I'd programmed before I left. Along with Hasebe, we have guys like Honda and Endo who have experience are helping out for our younger players, so I think that we can expect positive growths from our younger players.

MF HASEBE Makoto (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany)
Head coach told us that we did very good trainings with concentration while he was absent. We poured some tactical elements in our practice today, but because our coach instructed us what we were supposed to do, we got to have good understanding of them. We hope to show those on the pitch tomorrow. I've been doing both an anchor man and inside half on my club, so I think I can do them both.

FW OKAZAKI Shinji (1.FSV Mainz 05/Germany)
Because we lost in our game in October, we have to be sticking with a win as a team, and we hope to show some tension and mental heat as well as our contents. My job is to score goals, so I've been dissatisfied, but I think I will get better. I will need to increase scoring chances more first, and then want to be able to score even if I get very few chances. We want to raise the qualities of our game. I want to score some goals so I want to prove my values.

Hernan MEDFORD, Honduras National Team Head Coach
Both Japan and Honduras are in the periods to install their new philosophies and thoughts onto their teams under the new head coaches. Our style is to emphasize the balance between our offence and defence and bring the ball from the backfield. But since I took over, we've had very few time for practices in the three months and a half, and our players have gradually been used to our new styles. I've watched a few games of Japan, and they all were great, although they struggled against Brazil. They are a strong team who have a lot of players who play in Europe, so it's going to be a difficult game for us, but it's not impossible for us to win it. We want to entre the game with an aggressive style and hopefully win it, putting up a good contest.

JFA-TV

Kirin Challenge Cup 2014

Fri. 14 November 2014     SAMURAI BLUE(Japan National Team) vs Honduras National Team
Toyota Stadium/Aichi Kickoff 19:35(plan)/Open 16:35(plan)
TV Broadcast: National live broadcast on TV ASAHI

More information

Tue. 18 November 2014    SAMURAI BLUE(Japan National Team) vs Australia National Team
Yanmar Stadium Nagai/Osaka Kickoff 19:20(plan)/Open 16:20(plan)
TV Broadcast: National live broadcast on FUJI TV

More information