Striker Kento Shiogai, reserve for the Japanese team at the World Cup, caused controversy by declaring that the Brazilian team is no longer the same as it used to be.
In an interview with the Kyodo News agency, after training on Saturday (27) in Houston, location of the match this Monday (29), at 2pm (Brasília time), against Brazil, in the 32-team phase of the World Cup, Shiogai stated that he sees his team as having a chance of winning.
“Yes, we can play as equals, honestly,” he said, adding:
“I also don’t think it’s the Brazil of the past. So, precisely for that reason, I think we need to come in to truly dominate the game. But even so, if difficult moments arise, I hope that we, the players on the bench, can help and save the team.”
Asked if he knew any Brazilian players or if he wanted to play with any of them, the striker remembered just two: “I think that in Brazil I practically only know Neymar. Oh, and Vinicius is there too, right? So, I think Vinicius must be really strong.”
Before this interview, Shiogai, who plays for Wolfsburg, in Germany’s first division, had spoken to journalists after training and explained why he doesn’t know the Brazilian team that much.
“In the past [o Brasil] It was strong, but what now? I have the image that France is strong. Argentina too. I haven’t heard much about Brazil lately,” he said.
He then made amends: “Brazil continues to be strong. If we manage to win, we will gain even more momentum.”
This Sunday (28), Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu followed the same line of thought and said in an interview that Japan already knows how to beat the five-time world champions.
“Looking back at our games against Brazil, we had never achieved a victory. So, at that moment, we saw how history was being made. Until then, we had a 0% chance of winning, but then we realized that yes, we have a chance of winning”, he commented on the friendly in October 2025, in Tokyo, in which Japan won 3-2, the only Japanese victory in 14 clashes with Brazil (there were, then, 11 Brazilian wins and 2 draws).
