England have stars, but we are confident: Japan U-17 coach

Japan coach Yoshiro Moriyama on Monday said that despite the English players being on a higher pedestal in terms of playing in top European clubs, the Asian powerhouse will put up a spirited show in Tuesday's pre-quarterfinal of the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be played at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan here.

"In the England team, many of them play in Germany and the (English) Premier League, already playing with the top teams or training with them. Thinking of market value of the players is 20 million for England and maybe one million for Japanese players. But football does not work like that," Moriyama told reporters on the eve of their match here.

"We can work as a group. Thinking of our offence and defence tomorrow, there are things we can do on the pitch. Sometimes we have to be realistic. Our players can decide what they need to do depending on the situation. We are looking forward to the game," he added.

Japan qualified as the second placed team from Group E with four points from three matches, but were astonishingly held to a 1-1 draw by minnows New Caledonia in their last league engagement.

Moriyama blamed the sultry weather conditions for Japan's poor outing, saying the players found it difficult to even breathe at times.

"Against New Caledonia, in that match, there was high humidity and heat and it was very difficult for players to breathe. It was a great experience playing in front of so many people and such a big crowd," he said.

"I apologise to my players that maybe it was my myself not letting them do their challenge in the pitch and also to make mistakes. Football is a sport where mistakes can happen."

Asked if the conundrum over England's star Jadon Sancho playing or not is a concern among Japan ranks, the coach chose to see the lighter side of the issue.

"I think he is going to play. He was at the hotel, I saw him (laughs). I hope he plays as we want to play against best XI of England. We have nothing to lose."

Japan's captain Shimpei Fukuoka admitted England, who have been perfect in the group stages, will be difficult opponents.

"Against England, we will have tough times. But against strong teams we can improve on our own on the pitch without being coached by our coaches and hope to communicate well with teammates.

"We are confident. We want to play practically. Our first goal was to qualify for knockouts. We wanted to win the third game but this is football. We are positive and want to win against England."

On their plans for England, the coach said: "We don't want to go too far in our plans for tomorrow.

"As captain said we are challengers. We will show what we have and do our best performance. It is us the coaches to do some changes in the system if needed. I think it's all about what happens on the pitch. Those aspects the players feel on the pitch. The players will have to decide whether to go for a ball or not and we have players who can do that."

Asked about the ground condition after the group stages, the coach said: "We have enough watering. The pitch is still flat and it might be worse than when we started the tournament. But we have no problem.

"This stadium with 50,000 people and the high attention is great and is something our players have experienced for the first time. So with this stage and opponent and crowd, I want players to be excited and play well."

--IANS

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