Japan must focus on positives ahead of World Cup qualifiers, Endo says

Samurai Blue captain urges team to learn from recent friendlies

Japan captain Maya Endo has urged his team to focus on the positives ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifiers, despite a disappointing run of results in recent friendlies.

The Samurai Blue were beaten 3-0 by Brazil and 1-0 by Tunisia in their last two matches, but Endo believes there are still plenty of reasons for optimism.

"We didn't get the results we wanted in the friendlies, but we learned a lot," said Endo, who plays his club football for Stuttgart in Germany.

"We played against two very good teams, and we saw where we need to improve," he added.

Key areas for improvement

Endo says a particular focus going into these qualifiers will be to improve Japan's attacking play.

"We need to be more clinical in front of goal," he said.

"We had chances to score in both of the friendlies, but we didn't take them," he added.

Endo also believes Japan needs to be better defensively.

"We conceded some soft goals in the friendlies," he said.

"We need to be more solid at the back," he added.

Japan will begin their World Cup qualifying campaign on September 2, when they host Oman in Saitama.

They will then travel to China on September 7, before finishing their campaign at home to Saudi Arabia on October 12.