SAITAMA, Japan: Japan were stung by their quarter-final exit at the Asian Cup earlier this year but midfielder Wataru Endo says they must not dwell on that setback and instead go into 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Bahrain with a positive mindset.
Japan host China at Saitama Stadium on Thursday as the third round of qualifying gets underway, seeking to bounce back from the Asian Cup in Qatar where defeat to Iran ended their hopes of a record-extending fifth title.
While Japan are strong favourites to finish in the top two in Group C, which also features Australia, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, Endo said they are taking nothing for granted. “The Asian qualifiers are not easy games, we found that out at the Asian Cup,” he said.
“The Asian qualifiers will be a long journey and there will be tough games along the way. “But we don’t want to think about the negative things in the past. We have to think about the more positive things. We can play as a team and overcome these difficulties as well,” the Liverpool player added.
Should Japan, who are attempting to qualify for an eighth consecutive World Cup, fail to land one of the two automatic spots from Group C, finishing third or fourth would extend their campaign into another round of preliminaries.
Japan have a track record of starting slowly at this stage and were beaten 1-0 by Branko Ivankovic’s Oman in their first game of the final round of qualifiers for Qatar 2022. The Croatian will be in the opposing dugout on Thursday after his appointment by the Chinese earlier this year and Endo is wary of the wily 70-year-old, who also masterminded a win over the Japanese when in charge of Iran in 2005.
“He knows how to play against Japan,” said Endo. “He knows how to analyse us and has good tactics against Japan as we’ve seen from past games. “For me, I need to manage the risks coming from the attacking players of the Chinese team and I know they have some tall and strong players that we need to take care of as well.”
MILAN: AC Milan slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Fiorentina on Sunday after having two penalties saved by star man David De...
LONDON: Jonny Evans says Manchester United’s players are sticking together and fighting hard to pull themselves out...
LAHORE: The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mohsin Naqvi, conducted a late-night inspection of the...
PARIS: Johan Neeskens, who has died aged 73, was the powerful but smooth engine of the Ajax and Netherlands teams that...
LONDON: Paul Pogba’s doping suspension was cut from four years to 18 months after experts supported the French...
STOCKHOLM: China’s Zhao Xintong’s maximum 147 break in a small club in Sweden shone a spotlight on the snooker...
SHANGHAI: World number seven Taylor Fritz finally made it into the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Monday, two...
BARCELONA: Barcelona are hoping to return to their legendary Camp Nou stadium, currently undergoing modernisation and...