Khaldon Azhari

TOKYO: Japan national soccer team coach Hajime Moriyasu said on Monday that he believes his team will face “pressure” from their Saudi Arabia rivals in Tuesday’s crucial World Cup qualifier in Saitama.

غداً، ١ فبراير الساعة 1:10 بعد الظهر، ستقام مباراة كرة القدم بين #الصقور_الخضر 🇸🇦 و الساموراي الأزرق 🇯🇵 ضمن التصفيات النهائية ل #كأس_العالم_2022 في الدوحة. مع تمنياتنا بأن يتأهل كلا المنتخبين لكأس العالم!🔥⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/AbJ01yzkZt

— Embassy of Japan in KSA (@JapanEmbassyKSA) January 31, 2022

Saudi Arabia leads Group B in the qualifiers for this year’s World Cup in Qatar with 19 points from seven games, four points ahead of Japan and five ahead of Australia. Oman lies fourth with seven points, while China (five points) are unlikely to qualify and Vietnam (0 points) are out of the running. Only the top two can qualify directly; the third-placed team will go to playoffs.

“I think Saudi Arabia is a very aggressive team that can put pressure on us,” said Moriyasu, who has been under pressure after a poor qualifying campaign. “They defend solidly and have good variety in attack, so we have to try and outplay them in this area.”

In reply to a question from Arab News, he said: “Saudi Arabia’s players are highly capable and they are good individually and in link-up play, so we have to be aware of that.”

Japan lost 1-0 to Saudi Arabia in October in an earlier qualifier.

But Saudi coach Hervé Renard said he has great respect for Japan.

“Japan are second in Asia in the FIFA rankings and we have great respect for them,” he told the media on Monday. “Japan is a very strong team and it made the knockout tournament at the 2018 World Cup. The current situation may not reflect Japan’s true power. With that in mind, we must prepare for tomorrow’s game. It’s going to be a big game.”

Arab News Japan asked about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit Japan hard this month.

“Fortunately, there is no problem with the team,” Renard said. “We’ve taken great precautions to protect ourselves against infection. The corona problem is not only in Tokyo, but everywhere in the world. We are very lucky to be able to play in such a situation, especially this important game. It’s a shame that we can’t see anything in Tokyo this time, but we’d like to come back when things get better.”

Tuesday’s match kicks off at 19:14 local time.