Murakami warns Bafana Bafana
Murakami warns Bafana Bafana
Posted: 2009-11-10 10:41
Platinum Stars’ Japanese striker Norikazu Murakami has warned South Africans that Bafana Bafana won’t beat his country when they meet in an international friendly in Port Elizabeth on November 14.
Murakami, who still harbours ambitions of playing for his country one day, says scheduling the game in Port Elizabeth has given his team an edge as the Blue Samurai will find it easy to settle in the coastal weather conditions.
"Like any player, my ambition is to play for my country one day. I would have loved to get my first call up and play against Bafana Bafana, but I think I must just keep working hard with hope that the Japanese technical team will recognise my talent and give me call up one day.
"I think that at this stage South Africa is disorganised with the new coach coming in and I think Japan will capatilise on that"
- Norikazu Murakami
“I was worried that the game would be played in Johannesburg, but now that it has been moved to the coast, it will give the Japanese players an advantage. They will not find it difficult to adapt to the weather conditions there.
“Many people have asked me which team I will be supporting and I have given them an answer. My job is in South Africa but my roots are in Japan, so I will follow my roots."
“It promises to be an exciting game but I don’t give South Africa much chance of beating us. I think that at this stage South Africa is disorganised with the new coach coming in and I think Japan will capatilise on that.”
Meanwhile the Japanese national team coach Takeshi Okada has shown that he is not taking chances this weekend by bringing a strong team for the international in Port Elizabeth by naming six foreign-based players to face Bafana Bafana on Saturday.
The six internationals are Shunsuke Nakamura (Espanyol), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg), Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble), Junichi Inamoto (Stade Rennais FC) ,Keisuke Honda ( VVV Venlo), as well as forward Takayuki Morimoto (Catania).
Speaking to Japanese media before departure to South Africa, Okada said their trip to South Africa would be a big challenge in their preparations ahead of the World Cup.
“Whether you play such a tournament on your first visit or on your second visit makes a difference. The biggest difference is that our staff will find out what things are like there, which helps our preparations before and during the finals.
“I hope we can continue our work and strengthen all aspects of our game.”
“South Africa has struggled lately, but if you look at their games in the Confederations Cup you can see that they have a team with good ability,” Okada added.
Ernest Fakude
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: 2009-11-10 16:28
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