Samurai Blue warm up to Singapore in the rain

SINGAPORE – Neither the rain nor the lack of the team’s bigger names could dampen the mood of Japan’s fans, who turned up at the Bishan Stadium to watch the Samurai Blue’s hour-long training on Nov 10 ahead of the Nov 13-17 Mizuho Blue Challenge.

All of their 28 players are already in Singapore for the matches against Brazil (Nov 14) and Paraguay (Nov 17) at the National Stadium, but only 12 were at the open session at 5pm, along with around 20 staff including head coach Hajime Moriyasu and assistant Shunsuke Nakamura.

Among those missing from the session, which featured rondo games and goalkeeping drills, were stars such as Aston Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, Monaco’s former Liverpool winger Takumi Minamino and Real Sociedad forward Takefusa Kubo, who were all given time off to recover from club duties over the weekend.

But the 300 attendees from the Unleash the Roar! programme, ActiveSG Football Academy, People’s Association Community Sports Network, Japanese Association in Singapore and local community were still excited to catch a glimpse of players who featured at the recent World Cup, such as skipper Ko Itakura and midfielders Ritsu Doan and Ao Tanaka.

There were Japanese families with kids in tow carrying handmade signs. A lucky few were able to snag autographs, while local fans like Zuriel Paul and Ignatius Bay were happy just to get a response from the likes of Bayern Munich defender Hiroki Ito.

“Although we didn’t get to see Kubo, it was still worth it because it’s not every day that you get to see world-class players in Bishan,” said Paul, 20, who brought a Japan jersey with Kubo’s name as well as Tanaka’s trading cards.

Bay, an 18-year-old student, added: “The session was short but it was cool when we shouted Ito’s name and he waved at us.”

Similarly, the players looked enthusiastic. Making his first visit to Singapore, Cagliari right-back Yukinari Sugawara hailed the fans for turning up in the rain.

He said: “The fans are really amazing and we are really excited and looking forward to play against two big countries.”

The 26-year-old also paid tribute to Moriyasu, who will step down after the friendlies in Singapore following the postponement of the Asian Cup by 11 months to December 2027.

He added: “It’s sad to see that he will leave... so we have to do something special, win the two games here, and show our appreciation for him on and off the pitch.

“It has been eight years since he took over and what he did was really amazing – our world ranking was around 60th then and now we are 17th.”

For Sugawara, there would be no better way than to avenge their late 2-1 loss to Brazil in the World Cup’s round of 32 in Houston in June.

He said: “Many people have asked us about this, and no one would forget that match. It was really tough for us, and it will be tough again here, but we have to try to beat them.”

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.