OSAKA, Japan — With their spot at next year’s FIFA World Cup already in the bag since March, Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu noticeably named an inexperienced outfit for the current international window — where they will conclude their Asian qualifiers campaign.
A key factor behind the decision would undoubtedly have been to give his regular starters a much-needed rest after a long and arduous season for both club and country, but what is also provides is a chance for some previously-unproven prospects to prove their worth at this level.
Moriyasu has already stated that, in order to reach their lofty goal of actually winning the World Cup, he will need to have a large pool of players to choose from — which is why he is looking to increase the depth at his disposal.
Their first outing fielding an almost-unrecognisable team did not exactly go to plan as they fell to a last-gasp 1-0 loss to Australia but several individuals definitely emerged as positives.
One man who is determined to take his chance is Yūki Ōhashi, who is coming off the back of a breakthrough maiden season in Europe.
After his prolific scoring ways with J1 League outfit Sanfrecce Hiroshima saw earned him a move to the Championship with Blackburn last summer, Ōhashi made a blistering start to life in England as he netted five goals in his first seven starts — although he would only net twice more for the rest of the campaign.
A nine-goal haul in English football’s second tier is still a commendable haul for someone playing in Europe for the first time but Ōhashi reveals he is far from satisfied with his form.
“I think I wasn’t good enough last season,” he told ESPN in a one-on-one interview ahead of Japan’s meeting with Indonesia on Tuesday.
“For a long time, I couldn’t score. It’s important to keep scoring all [throughout the] season.
“I have to score for the team and I have to work for the team.
“I’m so happy to join up with [the Japan national] team. Obviously last season was a big, big season for me.
“For the last one-and-a-half seasons, I’ve played almost [every] game [at both Sanfrecce and Blackburn].
“I’m glad to be able to play and score for the team but I have a lot of [areas of] improvement, like in the last international game.”
Having only come on as an 80th-minute substitute on his international debut last November — coincidentally also against Indonesia — Ōhashi was handed his first start for Japan against Australia and hustled admirably as the focal point in attack, although he was unable to find the back of the net before being replaced in the 70th minute.
While his endeavour can never be questioned, Ōhashi — something of a late-blooming success story given he is only now gaining widespread recognition at the age of 27 — agreed that it would be ideal to break his duck sooner rather than later.
With a wry smile and a deep breath, he added: “Obviously I want to score. I will try to score.
“The most important thing is to win as a team. Tomorrow [Tuesday] will be an important game for us and for me.
“I have many things to improve on. So I’ll definitely do my very best.”
Given Moriyasu hinted in his pre-match news conference that there was a high likelihood he would rotate the starting XI, it will be interesting to see if Ōhashi retains his place or if he will have to settle for the prospect of having an impact from the bench.
Although Moriyasu usually operates with a sole striker, he regularly includes four attacking options in his squads.
From those given a rest this window, Ayase Ueda is the undisputed first-choice while Kōki Ogawa deputised admirably when the former was absent through injury for two qualifiers at the end of last year.
No other forward seems assured of a spot which means two spots could be on offer for whoever can seize their opportunity with both hands.
For now, it is Ōhashi, Shūto Machino, Mao Hosoya and Yuito Suzuki who have the chance to shine but they will be well aware that a whole host of Europe-based candidates in Takuma Asano, Kyōgo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda are waiting to be recalled in the not-too-distant future.
