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FC Baleine Shimonoseki captain Mikiya Eto and head coach Reo Tokushige stressed on more aggressive football, the ability to effortlessly switch between defence and attack and a better football culture from the top-flight football league, J1, to the lower tiers of Japanese football as key for the country's progress in the FIFA World Cup.
Eto and Tokushige spoke to ANI after FC Baleine Shimonoseki's thrilling win over the Punjab FC youth team on penalties this week during the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) exposure tour to Japan, as a part of which Punjab FC, along with Bengaluru FC and FC Goa, got exposed to high-level youth/club football after securing top-three positions in the 2025-26 RFDL season. FC Baleine Shimonoseki features in the country's fifth tier of football in the Chugoku Soccer League. For Japan, despite all the stars and skill sets from various parts of the world coming to their land and several world champion countries bringing their brand of football to the Asian nation, overcoming the FIFA World Cup round of 16 block remains a challenge, as they once again could not reach the quarterfinals during this edition, crashing out in the round of 32 with a loss to Brazil. Having finished in the pre-quarters two editions before the ongoing one, Japan's football collectively continues to strive for betterment, while humbly acknowledging the challenge of battling more physical and explosive players. Speaking to ANI, Captain Eto said that Japanese football is more on the defensive side, and the team needs to improve their ability to switch between defending and attacking. "The possession was low because the opponent was Brazil; Japanese football is more on the defensive side. Defensive football is okay, but how to make a quick transition to attack is very important. Finding out how Japan can become more attacking than defensive as a team is one of the aspects where the country is trying to improve," he said. On the other hand, coach Tokushige said there is a need for a strong football culture from top-flight J1 to its lower tiers and in youth football. "There are a lot of factors that can help in improving a country's football. But we need to develop a better footballing culture right from J1 to lower categories and for youth football," said the coach. After the win, captain Eto was all praises for the "very good agility", speed and physicality shown by Punjab FC. "This is why, honestly speaking, we struggled against them during the game," he added. Captain Eto and coach Tokushige also spoke on the club's philosophy in terms of coaching, playing and other aspects. Captain Eto highlighted the 'play for everyone' approach, saying, "Our philosophy is to affect and penetrate all the players. It means playing for everyone. We are having our struggles, and we want to overcome them with the fight coming from each member," he said. Coach Tokushige highlighted that the most important aspect for the players, especially the youngsters, is to create challenges for the opponents while defending and attacking and recover quickly when they make mistakes. He was also impressed by some of the players from Punjab FC, saying, "They have so many good players, especially number seven and number nineteen (jersey numbers). Also, the goalkeeper was really good." (ANI)
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