[Oakland (California) on the 6th (7th in Japan time) = Sato Naruhito]The Japanese national team (17th in the FIFA rankings) faced the Mexico national team (13th in the 1st in the same year) in an international friendly match, and drew 0-0.

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He emphasized that defender Itakura Ko (28, Ajax), who was substituted with injuries, had minor injuries. He started off as a 3-back player, and shut down his opponent's No. 10 midfielder Vega. In the 15th minute of the second half, he injured his right ankle and left the pitch. After the match, when he appeared in the mix zone, he revealed, “It looks like it's okay, I guess. It hurt a bit at the time so I stopped, but it feels pretty good when it's over.” He continued, “It's partly because the lower part was hard, and since I moved from Germany to the Netherlands, I was doing it while feeling a lot of differences in the grass, and there were times when I was hurt a little, and there were a lot of different aspects that started to get a little out of it, but the feeling when it was over is better than during the game.”

He played very strong until he was injured, and he gave an overwhelming performance as the main focus of the defender line, where many injured people were injured. “I really didn't want to have that No. 10 in the free time. I was also an Olympic opponent, and I knew I was a player of quality. I was in the position where I was fighting No. 10, and I didn't have to do my job. I always tried not to let the ball get in as good a condition as possible,” he recalled.

I didn't even take a step back against a strong opponent. In fact, the opponent didn't like it, and he nodded, “I had expected the ball to be on the ball very hard, and I thought I had to beat that kind of opponent before the game, and I came in. I was able to move forward from my strong defense, and even in the interpersonal situation, the entire team didn't lose.”

The distance between the three-backs was good, and the style I tried out for the first time against someone other than Asia was well suited to me. “Each person could take the plunge and take the challenge. I knew why they could go, and the positioning of the two of them was good and the distance they were all right in and where they were.” Part of the reason for this was that the course was limited due to the front line presses, saying, “I'm glad that I was able to go with everything stuck to the front line presses. I think I was able to go with confidence.”

[Japan National Team]Moriyasu Japan draws against difficult enemy Mexico / Live news details