Japan upbeat ahead of tie against Sane-less Germany
DESPITE Asian teams having endured a daunting tournament thus far, Japanese striker Takuma Asano shows character by saying his team will not be intimidated by Germany in their World Cup debut today.
Hosts Qatar lost 2-0 to Ecuador in Sunday’s opening game and were outplayed, while Iran were on the wrong end of a 6-2 thumping by England the next day.
Lightning-quick forward Asano is convinced Japan will not suffer the same fate when they take on the Germans in Group E and said the Blue Samurai have “nothing to fear.” “For sure there is a difference in the level of Asian teams compared to Europe and South America, and we’re still not there yet,” said the Bochum striker.
Japan have eight players at Bundesliga clubs in their squad and insist they will have no inferiority complex when they take to the pitch in Doha.
Defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, who plays in the Premier League with Arsenal, said Japan will need to be pragmatic but admitted their priority is not to concede goals.
Japan have also been drawn with Costa Rica and Spain in a tough Group E.
The four-time Asian champions have never gone further than the second round of a World Cup but forward Takumi Minamino is not daunted by the quality of the opposition in Qatar.
“Most of Japan’s players play overseas and we’re competing with players from around the world,” said the former Liverpool man, who is now at Monaco.
“With Japan, our opponents might be ranked higher than us, but that just gives us an underdog mindset and that’s how we’re approaching it.”
Germany winger Leroy Sane has been ruled out of his team’s World Cup opener against Japan because of a knee injury.
The German Football Association (DFB) confirmed the Bayern Munich forward’s absence via Twitter yesterday.
The former Manchester City winger missed training yesterday, Germany’s final training session before the Japan fixture today.
The DFB has not given details on the nature of Sane’s injury.
Sane came into the World Cup in good form for Bayern, having scored ten goals in 19 games in all competitions this season, along with six assists.
The remainder of manager Hansi Flick’s 26-man Germany squad trained yesterday and are eligible for selection in the matchday side.