Hajime Moriyasu admits he is still waiting for Japan to catch fire at the Asian Cup as the Samurai Blue go in search of a record-extending fifth continental title.
Despite four wins from four, Japan have been far from fluent in the UAE – they enjoyed just 27 per cent possession in their 1-0 last 16 triumph over Saudi Arabia.
And Moriyasu hopes the confidence created by four consecutive wins will power his side to a fifth in their quarter-final showdown with Vietnam on Thursday.
Successive wins over Turkmenistan, Oman, Uzbekistan and Saudi – all by single goal margins – took the Samurai Blue through to the last eight for the eighth consecutive edition of the Asian Cup.
While Moiryasu’s men are yet to stumble in their pursuit of a fifth Asian crown, they are also yet to produce the sort of dominant performance for which they have become known, and the former Sanfrecce Hiroshima boss believes his side remain a work in progress.
Vietnam are looking to extend their 12-month fairytale.
“Japan is here and we aim to win the title, but the team needs to be developed because we have some new players who are lacking experience,” he said.
“We are playing each match and learning from them. We know tomorrow will be a difficult match, but we’ll do our best and bring the confidence of having won our four matches.”
Moriyasu has overseen eight wins and one draw from his nine matches in charge, but while Japan are in form, Vietnam enter the match with the benefit of an extra day’s rest, albeit having played 120 minutes in their round of 16 match against Jordan.
Suspended striker Yoshinori Muto will certainly not play, but other than that, Japan are at full strength.
Moriyasu is tasked with putting an end to a year-long string of Vietnamese success stories, which included their 1-0 win over Japan at last year’s Asian Games – a competition in which Japan ultimately reached the final before losing to South Korea.
Vietnam’s Luong Xuan Truong has called on his side to achieve another historic milestone in Thursday’s duel with the Samurai Blue.
After squeezing into the knockout stages as the third-placed team in Group D, the Southeast Asians confounded pre-match predictions to beat Jordan on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the round of 16.
⚽ Nguyen Cong Phuong scored this decisive volley which led Vietnam 🇻🇳 to the quarter-finals, is this your goal of the Round of 1️⃣6️⃣?
— #AsianCup2019 (@afcasiancup) 23 January 2019
Vote here 👉 https://t.co/E3Mi346qXK#AsianCup2019 pic.twitter.com/jGyfknp9eC
Park Hang-seo’s side’s run to the quarter-finals is the latest achievement in a whirlwind 12 months for the Golden Dragons, which included reaching the final of the AFC U-23 Championship, the semi-finals of the Asian Games, and winning the AFF Championship.
Speaking to the-AFC.com, Xuan Truong – who came off the bench in the first-half of extra-time against Jordan to score in the shootout – said he is hungry for more.
“We are very happy because we made another piece of history for Vietnamese football,” he said.
“(The game against Jordan) was amazing. I hope we can keep playing in the same way against the next opponent, and hope we can make more history for Vietnam.”
