Ahead of the WC18 home match against Australia, Japanese midfielder Kamada Daichi gave an official interview to the Japan Football Association (JFA), sharing some of the team's adjustments and strategies in preparation for the match.
Kamada Daichi began by talking about the change in the team's formation, "After we changed our formation from four backs to three backs, it was obvious that we felt that we had a clearer focus on our opponent's players when dealing with long balls. This change has allowed us to be more focused in our defense and to limit our opponents' attacks more effectively."
He went on to mention the defensive performance against Saudi Arabia, "In that game, our backline players were very focused and they managed to make interceptions and grab second downs. Such defensive intensity was one of the major factors that enabled us to achieve victory."
In addition to the improvements on the defensive side of the ball, Kamada Dai also emphasized the role of the midfielders in the game, "The midfielders were also able to get back to the positions they had to occupy during the game so that we were able to be more organized in our attacks. We analyzed the weaknesses of our opponents in detail in our meetings, so we were able to target our attacks."
Regarding the overall strength of the team, Kamada Daichi is full of confidence: "With the level and ability of the current national team players, I think we can cope with whichever opponent we face. We do have a lot of good players in our team, and everyone is capable of contributing to the team."
In addition, he talked about the communication between the players, "We have a very active communication between us, we often get together to discuss the game strategy and adopt all kinds of useful opinions. This atmosphere makes us more united and more confident to face the next matches."
Finally, Kamada Daiichi said he would respect head coach Morihoichi's ideas, "I always put my head coach's requests first, and in order to be able to respond to those requests, I try to respect Coach Morihoichi's ideas as much as I can. I believe we can achieve better results under his leadership."
