Japan is not going to concern Germany of their World Cup opener on Wednesday regardless of Asian groups enduring a torrid match thus far, striker Takuma Asano says. Hosts Qatar misplaced 2-0 to Ecuador in Sunday’s opening recreation and have been outplayed, whereas Iran have been on the incorrect finish of a 6-2 thumping by England the subsequent day. Lightning-quick ahead Asano is satisfied Japan is not going to endure the identical destiny once they tackle the Germans in Group E and mentioned the Blue Samurai have “nothing to fear”.

“For sure there is a difference in the level of Asian teams compared to Europe and South America, and we’re still not there yet,” mentioned the Bochum striker.

“But you never know what’s going to happen at a tournament like this.

“You want numerous qualities like approach and techniques however the senior gamers maintain telling me that the factor you want when it counts is to be the crew that actually desires it.”

Japan have eight players at Bundesliga clubs in their squad and insist they will have no inferiority complex when they take to the pitch in Doha.

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Defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, who plays in the Premier League with Arsenal, said Japan will need to be pragmatic but admitted their priority is not to concede goals.

“I do not suppose we have to give them an excessive amount of respect,” said Tomiyasu.

“Of course we now have to be real looking at instances. I feel we might want to modify the steadiness relying on what occurs within the match.”

Japan have also been drawn with Costa Rica and Spain in a tough Group E.

The four-times Asian champions have never gone further than the second roud of a World Cup but forward Takumi Minamino is not daunted by the quality of the opposition in Qatar.

“Most of Japan’s gamers play abroad and we’re competing with gamers from around the globe,” said the former Liverpool man, who is now at Monaco.

“With Japan, our opponents may be ranked greater than us, however that simply provides us an underdog mindset and that is how we’re approaching it.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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