The visiting Japan Under-21 football team appeared extremely sincere with their business as they wasted very little time getting accustomed to the conditions ahead of their Fifa international friendly against Bangladesh tomorrow at Bangabandhu National Stadium.
The Junior Samurais landed in Dhaka at 1:45 pm yesterday and practised at the Rajarbagh police ground at 4:30 pm. Following their arrival, the Japanese youngsters took a breather for just half an hour before boarding the bus from the hotel to the practice ground.
The Japanese team, who are solely focused on the 2016 Olympics football competition in Rio, played a practice match against Thailand U-22 in Bangkok a few days ago where the tourists won 2-0. The team went through some gruelling physical drills at the Rajarbagh ground as their distribution and passing skills looked efficient. The average height of the team is also a notable characteristic as most of their players are tall. The professional approach was visible in their disciplined manner. Jamaica-born forward Musahi Suzuki, who plays for Albirex Niigata in the J-league, looked impressive in the practice session with his footwork.
Head coach Teguramori Makoto vowed to display good football after their arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal international airport. “We don’t have much idea about Bangladesh football but I can say that the match will be an enjoyable one. We have started our preparation for the Olympic qualifiers and we have a match against Malaysia on March next year. We want to get ready for that.”
The coach revealed that only one of his charges has represented the national side and five of them are in the preliminary squad for next year’s Asian Championship.
However, Makoto might not have been aware that a 23-member national squad has been finalised by their Mexican coach Javier Aguirre and none of the youngsters were named in the senior team. It is mentionable that Japan are the defending Asian Cup champions.
Defender Ken Matsubara is the only player who has so far represented the national side and he is among the quintet who were included in the preliminary squad. The other four players are Ueda Noamichi, Yuwa Kubo, Takoshi Minamino and Ryota Oshima.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) senior vice president Abdus Salam Murshedy said the VIP tickets of the international friendly will cost Tk60 while the gallery tickets will be priced at Tk30. The match will kick off at 5pm.
All the ticket buyers will also get a BFF Development Fund lottery ticket free with each match-ticket. Channel 9 will transmit the match live from the venue.