Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu wants to bury some ghosts of the past when he returns to Qatar for the World Cup in November.
But he knows also that the team faces a big challenge to survive in a group featuring ex-champions Spain and Germany.
Moriyasu played on the Japanese team that had to swallow the bitter pill of a last-minute equalizer against Iraq in Doha in 1993.
It made them miss a first-ever World Cup in 1994 in the U.S., with arch-rivals South Korea playing there instead.
The match is known in Japan as “the agony of Doha” and Moriyasu was quoted as saying he wants to make this pain forgotten.
“I want to reach our goals here in Doha, this time around as a coach, and make it ‘the joy of Doha’,” the 53-year-old said.
Japan have played at every World Cup since 1998 and reached the last 16 in 2002, 2010 and 2018.
A top-two finish is required to survive the group.
Prevailing against 2010 winners Spain and four-time champions Germany will be a huge task, with the other team either Costa Rica or New Zealand.
“We want to reach the last eight. But we can not achieve that if we don’t beat the strongest teams in the world. We will prepare thoroughly and think about how we can achieve that,” Moriyasu said.
“I am happy to play against teams like Germany and Spain who have the experience to win the tournament,” he said.
Japan open against Germany on Nov. 23, face Costa Rica or New Zealand on Nov. 27 and Spain on Dec. 1.
