Hajime Moriyasu Germany Croatia Spain Doha Japan Football FIFA cup Hajime Moriyasu Germany Croatia Spain Doha Japan

Japan aiming for best World Cup finish: Moriyasu

channelnewsasia.com

DOHA: Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said he was setting his sights on a best-ever finish for the country at the World Cup after they stunned Spain 2-1 to finish top of Group E on Thursday (Dec 1).The Blue Samurai will face Croatia in the next round, but Moriyasu is looking even further down the line, having beaten and helped eliminate four-time champions Germany.It is the fourth time Japan have reached the last 16 but they have never progressed beyond that stage."In terms of a finish, the new aim for us is the last eight," said Moriyasu."The players are showing us a different and new view of being able to fight on the world stage."I would like to set a new record of the last eight or better."Spain took the lead against Japan through Alvaro Morata's header, but like in their comeback against Germany, Moriyasu's side turned the game on its head after the break.Ritsu Doan blasted home from outside the area in the 48th minute and three minutes later Ao Tanaka bundled home from on the goal-line.The controversial goal was given after officials decided the ball had not gone out of play using VAR."First of all, concerning that goal, we were just playing to win," the coach told a press conference."We think that our intent materialised as a goal, whether the ball was out or not."There is great technology nowadays for 'big football' and if it was really out, it would have been a goal kick."The judgement of the referee was that it was in and we respected that.

But we were willing to accept it either way, but the final judgement was that it was in."Japan players collapsed at the full-time whistle, while the substitutes and staff raced on to the pitch in celebration of an enormous accomplishment."Big thanks to all our supporters, the

Related News
DOHA : Japan will have much to remember from the World Cup, not least stunning upsets of Germany and Spain in the group stage, but ultimately they fell short of their cherished goal of making the quarter-finals for the first time.
AL WAKRAH, Qatar : Japan's players were devastated after Monday's agonising defeat on penalties by Croatia in the World Cup last 16 but coach Hajime Moriyasu opted to look towards a brighter future for his team in the years to come despite their disappointment.
AL WAKRAH, Qatar : Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu brought Takehiro Tomiyasu into his defence in place of the suspended Ko Itakura as one of three changes to his side for the World Cup last-16 game against Croatia on Monday.
DOHA: Ninety minutes and 2018 FIFA World Cup finalists Croatia are all that stand between Japan and making history.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.