Japan Olympic team manager Makoto Teguramori believes his side is capable of winning gold at this summer¡¯s Rio Games, but there are too many factors clouding the water to predict anything for certain.
Teguramori named his 18-man squad for the Aug. 3-20 Olympic soccer tournament last Friday, largely keeping faith with the players who booked Japan¡¯s place by winning the Asian Under-23 Championship in Qatar in January. Japan has been drawn with Sweden, Nigeria and Colombia in an extremely competitive Group B, but Teguramori believes in his players¡¯ abilities.
¡°Against South Africa, at first we had to be patient, deal with the strength of our opponent and probe for weaknesses and gaps in their defense,¡± the manager said of his team¡¯s 4-1 friendly win in Nagano last Wednesday. ¡°Our reading of the game was what got us the win. I think that is Japan¡¯s style, to control the game, read what the opponent is thinking and turn small gaps into big ones.¡±
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