Moriyasu believes in unexpected opportunity against Brazil: 'We want to write history'

The Japanese team entered the match against Brazil in the first knockout round of the World Cup with high confidence. Coach Hajime Moriyasu believes that his team can create another surprise and he mentioned the team's victory in a friendly match last October.

"At that point, we realized we could win, even though everyone thought our chances were almost zero," Moriyasu said at a press conference in Houston. Japan defeated Brazil 3-2 in Tokyo, the team's first win over the five-time world champions. "It was a moment where history changed."

However, coach Moriyasu is also aware that Brazil is the team that is more appreciated in the match on Monday night (Vietnam time 7:00 p.m.) in Houston. "They are always favorites to win any competition. People can laugh at us, but we are also aiming for the title. We want to write history again as the underdogs."

Moriyasu will not have the services of star Takefusa Kubo in this match. The striker suffered a knee injury in the group stage and is still recovering. "He will not play against Brazil. We hope he will return as soon as possible."

If the match must be decided by a penalty shootout, Coach Moriyasu has also prepared a different approach than 4 years ago. At the 2022 World Cup, he let the players register themselves to take penalty kicks, leading to Japan being eliminated by Croatia in the round of 16. "This time I will decide the order of taking penalties," coach Moriyasu announced. He also admitted that Japan will have one less day off than Brazil before the match, but did not want to use that as an excuse. "We believe we can win. That feeling has been with us for a long time and throughout this World Cup," coach Moriyasu emphasized.

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