One day before their KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2023 match against El Salvador, SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) Head Coach MORIYASU Hajime spoke at an official press conference held at Toyota Stadium on Wednesday 14 June, sharing his aspirations to “make tactical challenges while aiming for victory.”

Coach Moriyasu, who is upgrading his squad for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, will be looking to try out some of the options and new player combinations he has been experimenting with since March, while also aiming for his first victory since the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

El Salvador is ranked 75th in the latest FIFA rankings, compared to Japan's 20th, but drew 1-1 at home against the USA in the CONCACAF Nations League last June and also fared well in an away 0-1 loss in March this year. Many of the players in this visiting squad include those who played against the USA in March.

With the team scheduled to play Costa Rica and Panama in the CONCACAF Gold Cup early in July, Head Coach Hugo PEREZ commented, “The Gold Cup kicks-off in about 10 days, so it will be a great opportunity for our development to play against a solid team like Japan, who are ranked highly in the FIFA rankings and have played very well at the World Cup.”

“We want to dominate our opponents,” said coach Moriyasu, who described El Salvador as “a team that can fight tenaciously in both offence and defence. We must maintain our balance and manage the risks even when we are on the attack.”

On this day, the SAMURAI BLUE worked up a sweat in an official training session held at the match venue, with the exception of KAWAMURA Takumu (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), who departed the squad due to a fitness issue, and KAWASAKI Sota (Kyoto Sanga FC), who worked on a separate training menu,.

The session was closed to the media except for the first 15 minutes, in which the players were seen going through their warmup routines to loosen their bodies.

Later that evening, ITO Atsuki (Urawa Red Diamonds), who had been called up to take Kawamura's place, checked into the team's hotel.

UEDA Ayase (Cercle Brugge KSV), who recorded 22 goals in the Belgian league this season, said, “The national team has many talented players, and I feel that by collaborating with these individuals, I can make the best use of my ability. I want to put in a lot of effort to make myself a target for everyone.”

MORISHITA Ryoya (Nagoya Grampus), who is eager to make his national team debut in a match at Toyota Stadium, the home stadium of his club, said, “I think my pace and overlapping runs can be an asset for the national team. I want to give it my all without worrying about making mistakes.”

This is the second time Japan will play El Salvador since the KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2019 in June 2019, with Japan winning 2-0 last time out.

The match between Japan and El Salvador is scheduled to kick off at 19:10 on Thursday 15 June at Toyota Stadium.

SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) vs El Salvador National Team
Date: Thu. 15 June 2023 19:10
Venue: Toyota Stadium, Aichi
Tournament information

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