The Japan Football Association rewarded national team coach Hajime Moriyasu by extending his contract until 2026, following the successful journey of the “Samurai Blue” team in the Qatar 2022 World Cup by reaching the final price.
As a result of the two historic victories achieved by the Japanese national team over 4-time world champion Germany 2-1, then Spain, the 2010 champion, with the same result, and leading Group E in front of the European giants, Moriyasu won the honor of being the first coach of the Japanese national team to maintain his position following the World Cup.
Japan left the Qatar World Cup race from the gate of the final price round by Croatia with a penalty shootout 3-1 following the end of the match in its original and extra time 1-1, a result that the Japanese Federation considered honorable, which prompted him to renew confidence in Moriyasu.
In a press conference held in the capital, Tokyo, the 54-year-old coach expressed his happiness to continue the career with the national team until the World Cup 2026, saying, “It is work that gives me the opportunity to compete on the international stage, and I am proud that I am Japanese, for this reason I decided to accept the offer from the Japanese Football Association.” .
“But the players showed something we haven’t seen before by beating the former world champions, Germany and Spain,” Moriyaso added.
Moriyasu – who defended the colors of the national team as a player between 1992 and 1996 – received his assignment following the 2018 World Cup in Russia, in which he held the position of assistant coach.
Moriyasu led his country in the 2019 Asian Nations Cup in the UAE when it reached the final round and lost to Qatar 3-1. As for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, he was just around the corner from leading Japan to the quarter-finals for the first time in its history, but luck betrayed players in Penalties, and they fell 3-1 at the barrier of Luka Modric and his companions in the Croatian national team, following the original and extra time ended in a 1-1 draw.
Thus, the “Blue Samurai” career ended at the final price for the fourth time in the seventh participation, and “This is a barrier that we might not overcome, and therefore it can be said that we did not achieve anything new,” according to what the coach said following losing to Croatia.
In addition to his remarkable career at the head of the Japanese national team, Moriyasu captured the attention of the international media and football fans through communication platforms when he bowed inside the stadium to apologize to the Japanese fans and salute them following the defeat in the final price once morest Croatia by penalty kicks and leaving the World Cup race.
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And since it recorded its start in the World Cup in 1998 with a squad made up entirely of local players, the number of Japanese players in European leagues increased to reach the Qatar finals with 19 players playing in the old continent, including 8 in Germany, which promises a bright future and the possibility of getting rid of the final price complex in The 2026 finals will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
