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The story
It emerged on October 7 that the Japan national team is planning a friendly match on home soil on December 30. Suita, Osaka, is the leading candidate for the venue, with an opponent still under negotiation. Coming ahead of the Asian Cup kickoff (January 7 next year, in Saudi Arabia), the match is being positioned as a valuable chance for live competition before the tournament, as part of a domestic training camp scheduled from December 26 to 31. On the thread, fans speculated about possible opponents, reminisced about past send-off matches, and discussed how the schedule overlaps with the Emperor’s Cup final and players’ winter rest.
Panasonic Stadium Suita has come up as the venue.
It was learned on October 7 that the Japan national team is planning a friendly match at year’s end, on December 30. Osaka’s Suita has come up as the venue, with an opponent still under negotiation.
Japan is set to hold a domestic training camp from December 26 to 31 ahead of the Asian Cup, which kicks off in Saudi Arabia on January 7 next year. As part of that camp, the team is planning to hold a friendly match as a valuable opportunity for live match preparation ahead of the main tournament.
Source: football-zone.net / Original article here
What people said
Learn the difference between 'gantan' (New Year's morning) and 'ganjitsu' (New Year's Day).
Think of the 'tan' in 'gantan' as the sun rising over the horizon —
so just remember 'gantan' means the morning of January 1st and you won't go wrong.
But is it really okay to eat into their winter break like that?
My guess is South Korea, or Australia since there's no time difference lol
Japan vs Brazil
Nov 17
Japan vs Paraguay
Dec 30
Domestic friendly match <NEW
Jan 1
Emperor's Cup final
but wait, they're in the same Asian Cup group, so that's out.
Please, no more Thailand like last time.
They said there's a domestic camp from the 26th to the 31st.
This is just part of that.
Guess it'll be mostly domestic-league players?
Might as well have them play Japan's U-23s or something.
It's precisely because of the winter break that they're holding a TM (test match/friendly), to keep match sharpness from dropping — the Asian Cup kicks off a week later.
Wasn't last time on New Year's Day or something?
I feel like they played against Thailand or somewhere like that.
Was that the time there was a plane accident right after the match ended?
West Asian teams probably won't come, so I'd guess they're offering it to an East Asian country they won't face in the tournament bracket.
Thailand's out this time since they're in the same group, and South Korea and Australia are out too.
My guess is Singapore is the frontrunner, with China as a backup option — though would China even accept? Having someone get weirdly serious in a mere friendly and cause an injury would be a problem too.
so it looks like the national team shifted its date to avoid a clash.
'Gantan' refers to the morning (or forenoon) of January 1st.
So there's no such thing as 'gantan evening,' you know?
The Emperor's Cup semifinal is on the 27th.
Even if they lose, players from those clubs might still have a tough time making it.
Or can't they shake their anxiety about Oiwa?
It's simply a send-off event that doubles as a cash grab.
The national team's riding a popularity boom right now, after all.
Watching the team cam, Moriyasu's tenure went on so long that friction with the next manager is highly likely.
Bringing in some random foreign coach would've been risky, I think.
Oiwa, who's led the Paris and LA Olympic generations, seems fine — at least this generation probably won't turn on him.
Probably a day game.
Most people will have finished work for the year by then, so they could go watch it if they wanted.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
A year-end friendly is somewhat unusual because most Europe-based players are hard to call up during their clubs’ winter break, and opposing countries have little incentive to travel all the way to Japan. On the thread, candidates that would be geographically and logistically easy to arrange — East Asian countries, China, and the like — came up as possible opponents, though posters argued Thailand, South Korea, and Australia were out of the running since Japan will face them in the same Asian Cup group. It was also noted that this season’s Emperor’s Cup final is set for the night of January 1st, raising the possibility that players from the finalist clubs could have their national-team call-up overlap with it. The thread also touched on speculation about manager Moriyasu Hajime’s future, but the friendly itself is not being reported as any official statement from the JFA about a contract extension — it’s simply being framed as live-match preparation ahead of the Asian Cup proper.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Japan National Team Plans Year-End Friendly — A Valuable Live Match Opportunity Before the Asian Cup… Could Be Manager Moriyasu Hajime’s Last Match on Home Soil.”
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