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Reporter Han Bing reports Japan coach Moriyasu Ichi will announce the roster for the September 18 finals on August 29. Japanese media speculated on the candidates for the Japanese team's roster and believed that Moriyasu Ichi would not make too many adjustments. Most of the players on the roster for the two international match days in March and June should be on the roster this time, unless there are injuries.

Three years ago, Moriyasu tasted the pain of losing the first home game in the top 12. How he and his team will perform in the first game of the top 18 is a concern of Japanese media and fans. Japanese media made a comparison of the value of the 27 players of the Chinese team (11 million euros), which is not as high as the value of Sugawara Yusei (Southampton, Premier League) or Itakura Ko (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bundesliga) (12 million euros). However, three years ago, it was the Oman team, whose entire team value was not as high as a Japanese player, that defeated Japan in the first round of the top 12 away game. At that time, the coach of the Oman team was Ivankovic, the current coach of the Chinese national football team.

At 13:00 on August 29th, Beijing time, Moriyasu Hajime will hold a press conference to announce the list, and the Japan Football Association's official YouTube channel JFATV will broadcast the press conference live.

Moriyasu Hajime's roster is generally stable. Compared with March, only 5 players were replaced in the 26-man roster for the June game, and midfielder Kaishu Sano was not selected due to injury.

If there are no unexpected injuries, the American-Japanese mixed-race goalkeeper Ayaka Suzuki, who transferred to Parma of Serie A in the summer, will return to the national team. It is likely that only one of the three local goalkeepers on the June roster will be retained at most. The other two mixed-race goalkeepers Daishi Nozawa and Reo Kokubo will compete for one spot. Reo Kokubo, who just transferred from Benfica B team to Sint-Truiden this summer, has a greater chance. He performed well in the U23 Asian Cup and the Paris Olympics, but he conceded 3 goals in his debut in Sint-Truiden. I wonder if it will affect his selection for the September roster.

In addition to Suzuki Ayane and Kokubo Reo, many Japanese internationals have gone to Europe or completed transfers in Europe this summer. 33-year-old veteran Taniguchi Shogo joined Belgian First Division Sint-Truiden from Al-Rayyan in Qatar, 24-year-old Hiroshima Sanfrecce midfielder Takuma Kawamura joined Red Bull Salzburg, Sano Kaishu joined German Bundesliga Mainz 05 from Kashima Antlers, and Urawa Red Diamonds midfielder Ito Tomo joined Belgian First Division Gent.

27-year-old striker Koki Ogawa joined the Dutch club Nijmegen after a season on loan. Defender Hiroki Ito joined Bayern Munich from Stuttgart. Yusei Sugawara joined Southampton from AZ Alkmaar. Midfielder Daichi Kamada joined Crystal Palace from Lazio. Striker Takuma Asano joined Mallorca from Bochum. Itakura Kou of Borussia Mönchengladbach was not included in the squad last week and is likely to join PSV Eindhoven. Celtic's Kento Furuhashi was once rumored by Japanese media to be joining Manchester City, but was denied by Celtic executives.

Injuries will prevent some overseas players from making the September roster, and some defensive positions will change. Hiroki Ito fractured his metatarsal bone and needs to rest for two months; Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu injured his knee and recovered at the end of August, but it is still unclear whether he has fully recovered. Defender Yuta Nakayama, who returned to J1 League top team Machida from Huddersfield this summer, and Gent center back Tsuyoshi Watanabe are likely to be included in the roster.

In the midfield and frontcourt, Jun Ito, who has been cleared of sexual assault charges, will return to the Japanese national team as expected. Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, who missed two consecutive rosters due to injury after the Asian Cup, has scored 1 goal and 1 assist in 2 games in the new season. He is the best performing Japanese player in Europe on the offensive end, and there is no doubt that he will return to the roster.

The more difficult part to decide is the forward line. Ueda Kirei, Maeda Dairan, Ogawa Koki and Suzuki Yuto, who were shortlisted in June, have not been in ideal form recently. This gives Takuma Asano, who just joined Mallorca in La Liga, and Makoto Hosoko, who just participated in the Paris Olympics, a good opportunity. Celtic's Furuhashi Tomokazu has basically no hope of being shortlisted.

As the first match of the round of 18 approaches, Japanese media has increased its coverage of the Chinese team, Chinese fans, etc.

Football Zone cited domestic media reports and collected comments from fans on social media, and believed that Chinese fans generally did not have high expectations for the outcome of the China-Japan match. After all, Japan's world ranking (18th) is much higher than China's national team (87th), and the performance of the two teams in the round of 36 was also very different. However, Football Zone also pointed out that some Chinese media and fans believed that most of the Japanese players played in Europe, and the European season had just begun, so some of the Japanese players had not yet reached their best form, while the Chinese players were all from the Chinese Super League and were generally in good competitive form. The difference in the players' form may add suspense to the match.

In addition, "Football Zone" reported that if the Chinese team wants to avoid a big loss in this game, it is crucial to avoid defensive mistakes, and the goalkeeper's performance is directly related to the outcome of the game.

Japanese media and Japanese fans are very concerned about the second away game against Bahrain in September. Because the Middle East is still in a hot summer, this away game is quite difficult for the Japanese team. Japanese football veteran Kensei Goto recalled that the most terrifying away game he followed the Japanese team was the away game against the United Arab Emirates in September 1997. The game started at 17:40 local time, the temperature was still close to 35 degrees Celsius, and the humidity was over 80%. The game was originally planned to be postponed to wait for the temperature to drop, but due to the live broadcast on TV, the game was still scheduled. At that time, the South Korean coach Cha Bum-kun, who came to the scene to watch the Japanese team's game, even sat in his seat with his upper body naked and only wearing shorts. Japan's No. 10 Namahiro was already a little too hot to feel in the first half, and pulled his socks to his ankles in the hope of lowering his body temperature.

On September 10, Japan will play away against Bahrain. The match will be at 21:00 local time (1:00 a.m. Japan time). According to the weather forecast, the local temperature will be below 35 degrees Celsius because Bahrain is closer to the coast and the humidity will be higher. Goto Kensei believes that the home game against the Chinese national team will test Moriyasu's offensive tactics, while the away game against Bahrain will test the Japanese players' ability to adapt to the high temperature environment.