On Saturday 12 November, the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team), who will compete in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, held their second training session at their base camp in Doha, Qatar. Following the session held on the day before, the team trained with the same seven players joining from the J.League. All of the players were very enthusiastic throughout the session, which created a highly competitive and tense atmosphere. Although each drill was not played at full intensity, the players showed their eagerness to pursue higher standards as they actively communicated with each other on the pitch.

On this day, SHIBASAKI Gaku (CD Leganes) and KUBO Takefusa (Real Sociedad) joined the team in the evening, while TANAKA Ao (Fortuna Dusseldorf) and TOMIYASU Takehiro (Arsenal) reported to the camp in the following morning.

Players' Comments

GK #12 GONDA Shuichi (Shimizu S-Pulse)
I saw the squad of both Germany and Spain, and it felt like every country has a surprise or two in their selection. I'm currently going over the reports of the players making their national team debut, because it is hard to predict how they will be utilised and included in the offense of the respective teams. Soon after the players who are currently playing abroad join the team, we will play Canada. After this match, we will have about five days to prepare for the World Cup. Although it may seem brief, we have never had a tour where we had more than a week to prepare, including the Asian Qualifiers, so we are accustomed to getting ready in the allotted amount of time. Since our last training camp, every player has worked hard at their respective clubs to advance individually, so the challenge now is to get everyone on the same strategic page. Our final test match will be against Canada, but in order to prepare for the match against Germany, we must challenge ourselves to win the game and demonstrate our strengths and teamwork.

FP #2 YAMANE Miki (Kawasaki Frontale)
I think my form has improved a lot from the first day. I am trying not to waste a single moment of this special time. I believe my attacking ability is the reason I am here, so I will give my best effort to do my part for the team, while drawing the line on where I need to take risks to showcase my strengths. I need to coordinate my runs with my teammates in order to exploit the openings behind the opposing defence line, so that is something I must try to talk about and experiment with within the allotted time. The German squad includes many of the players I know, and it once again reminded me how strong they are. You can never be too prepared, so we'll do everything we can to get everyone on the same page before the tournament.

FP #3 TANIGUCHI Shogo (Kawasaki Frontale)
Since arriving in Doha, we have been welcomed and escorted everywhere we go, and the sheer scale of it all has served as a reminder that the World Cup is finally getting underway. It is an honour to be able to represent Japan on this stage. The rest of the squad will be joining the team shortly, and I hope everyone can get here safely so that we can start training as a team. Everyone is working to improve their conditions in order to produce results with this team, and I for one am eager to collaborate with everyone. We all want to do what we can to get our jobs done while also trying to improve one another. The match against Canada will be played in a similar climate to Doha, so I think it will be a good opportunity for us to see how much our bodies can move. We will be preparing ourselves in a way that will help us reach our peak condition at the first match of the group stage.

International Friendly Match

Date: Thu. 17 November 2022, 17:40 (22:40 Japan time)
Fixture: SAMURAI BLUE vs Canada National Team
Venue: Al-Maktoum Stadium (United Arab Emirates)

Tournament Information

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™

Tournament Dates: Sun. 20 November - Sun. 18 December 2022
[Group Stage]
1st Match: Wed. 23 November 16:00 [Local Time] vs Germany National Team
2nd Match: Sun. 27 November 13:00 [Local Time] vs Costa Rica National Team
3rd Match: Thu. 1 December 22:00 [Local Time] vs Spain National Team

Tournament Information

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