Japan still ‘a little naive’ and ‘need to grow’ after World Cup exit against Brazil
Future dreams of success at tournament hinge on football becoming the country’s number one sport, midfielder Daichi Kamada says
Japan will never win the World Cup unless football becomes the country’s number one sport, midfielder Daichi Kamada warned after their heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Brazil on Monday.
Asia’s best side arrived in North America with ambitions of winning the tournament, and they were touted as outside favourites to go far.
But they were knocked out in the last 32 and have now failed to win a World Cup knockout game in five attempts.
Football has to compete with baseball and a host of other sports in Japan and Kamada thinks that has to change if they want to progress.
“To become a country with serious ambitions of lifting the trophy, you need to have more quality and there are areas where we’re still lacking,” the Crystal Palace player said.
“We have to keep hyping up Japanese football and making it better, and I feel that if it doesn’t get to a level where it’s Japan’s national sport, we won’t be able to win it.”