 |
| ReutersYonhap News |
|
 |
| AFP Yonhap News |
|
Brazilian legend Ziku answered the possibility of Japan winning the World Cup.
After the charity match hosted in Japan on the 27th, Chiku met with reporters and said, "It was 25 years after Brazil won the World Cup for the first time since its transition to the professional league. It's been 25 years since I won the championship, so I hope you understand all that." Japan was in a very difficult group (Spain, Germany, Costa Rica) at the last World Cup (2022 Qatar World Cup), but passed the group stage as first place. It has not been difficult to pass the Asian qualifying round recently. Won't I be able to become a World Cup champion someday?" Also "Brazil is the country that produced Pele and Garinsha. What a blessing. I hope that will happen in Japan as well. I hope Japan's Pele and Karinsha will appear in the future."
The Japanese-Brazilian soccer community has been showing off its strong affection for a long time. Among them, Chiku is considered a representative Japan-friendly player. While playing for Brazil from 1976 to 1986, he scored 48 goals in 71 A matches and earned the nickname 'White Pele', and joined Kashima Antlers in 1991 when he was 38 and was a member of the J-League in 1993. Along with the same Brazilian player Alcindou Sartori, he was very popular in Japan. After retiring from Kashima, he served as coach of the Japanese national team from 2002 to 2006 after serving as coach of Kashima in 1999. He has been serving as a technical advisor to Kashima since 2018 and has been visiting Japan from time to time. Although it has always been friendly to Japan, it must be embarrassing to seriously ask about the possibility of winning the World Cup.
 |
| AFP Yonhap News |
|
 |
| AFP Yonhap News |
|
Japan's confidence in becoming the world's first to confirm its advance to the 2026 North-China World Cup finals is great. Based on more than 100 European players, he is aiming to win the World Cup. An extension of the confidence gained by beating Spain and Germany in the round of 16 at the last Qatar World Cup and fighting Croatia in the penalty shootout. In a meeting with national team coach Hong Myung-bo last month, Japanese national team coach Hajime Moriyasu is fighting with the entire team with the idea that his goal to win the World Cup will be "Dream big". Of course, if you look back on the past, you might be criticized as 'What are you talking about?' However, I don't think there's anything impossible if you play one game at a time. I want to overcome the difficult process and see the best scenery." He said "This idea is because of our efforts, but Korea made it to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup. Seeing that made me think 'Japan can also do it' I think they are colleagues who compete with each other at a high level with Korea but lead Asia"I would be very happy to face Korea in the next tournament, in the World Cup final someday in the future. With that mindset, I want to challenge for the North Korea-China World Cup" he once said.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
