Peru, meanwhile, failed to secure a World Cup place after losing to Australia in the intercontinental playoff. After a couple of disappointing friendly outings in March, they returned to winning ways on Friday with a 1-0 win over South Korea. Bryan Reyna scored the sole goal of the game.
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Japan were excellent victors over El Salvador in their friendly last week. They found the back of the net on six occasions in that game as they avoided a fourth straight game without a win and they will look to build on that as they take on Peru.
Whereas Peru also picked up their first win of the calendar year when they defeated South Korea 1-0 on Friday. Juan Reynoso’s men lost 2-0 at Germany and recorded a goalless draw with Morocco in March’s friendly matches.
Japan started their preparations for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup in January next year and played a series of friendly matches. Their last game ended in a 6-0 demolition of 10-man El Salvador, which featured goals from six different players. This included Al-Rayyan defender Shogo Taniguchi scoring his first international goal.
There are many combinations in terms of the system and combination of people. Hopefully tomorrow’s game will give us more options. The player base is not just one team, but two, three, etc. I want to be able to make the best selection for every match and tournament. Of course we have to look at the competition in each position, but we have as many players as possible with the same ability in each position. I want to be ready for anything.
The visitors will be tough to beat having lost just one of their last six games and having edged South Korea last time out, keeping their fourth clean sheet in their last five outings, the Peruvians should be able to claim at least a draw from this contest.
