Moriyama, while pleased with the performance of the young Samurai Blue against Vietnam, refused to take the Indian side lightly.

 

“We have seen the Indian team in this age-group play at the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017 and they were an impressive lot.

 

“Since then, India have put in a lot of work in their youth teams and have only gotten stronger and we have to prepare accordingly,” said Moriyama.

Despite aiming to finish as the Group D toppers, Moriyama said that he was planning to rest some of his regulars.

 

“The last few days have been quite tough on the boys, and I will have to make some changes to the line-up.

 

“But the good news is that we already experimented with our substitutes against Vietnam, and they all did very well. So, we are quite pleased.” 

While the task of having to beat the most successful team in the competition’s history is a daunting one, India head coach Bibiano Fernandes was keen to focus on the silver lining.

 

“Mathematically, we still have a chance. We will try to hold Japan to the best of our abilities and try to score. We know how strong they are but we will work hard and in football, you never know what will happen,” said Fernandes.

Fernandes has urged the Blue Colts to treat the opportunity of playing the East Asians as a privilege.

 

“The last two games have shown us that there is a lot of room for improvement and playing against a side of this calibre will also help us gain some perspective.

“Besides being the defending champions in this tournament, Japan are among the most successful teams on the Continent in any age-group. 

 

“I think it is a life-time opportunity for my boys to be able to play against them and we look forward to it very much,” he added. 

Japan v India
Venue: Rajamangala Stadium (Bangkok)
Kick-off: 19:00 (UTC+7)