Japan international Kamada says the team must improve its attacking threat against deep-defending opponents while continuing to produce results, after the Kirin Challenge Cup final.
Kamada was speaking after Japan used a four-man defence, a system he said had received very little preparation and one he had not played in for a long time.
“It’s been a long time since I played like this, and we’ve had almost no practice, so today was challenging under those circumstances,” he said. “Some aspects will improve over time, and I think we can do even better.”
The midfielder acknowledged the difficulty of breaking down opponents who sit deep, particularly in the modern game. Japan experienced those problems during the match but, according to Kamada, such challenges are familiar in Asian competitions.
“Against opponents who defend deeply like today, it’s very difficult to break through in modern football,” he said. “We struggled ourselves, but this is standard in Asian competitions.”
Kamada said Japan’s defensive shape could change again, with no decision yet made on whether the team will continue with three or four defenders.
“We tried a four-man defence today, and whether it’s a three-man or four-man defence in the future, I’m not sure, but I hope we can become more threatening against defensive opponents,” he added.
Despite the difficulties, Kamada felt Japan had shown an important quality by remaining organised and avoiding conceding during the more challenging periods of the match.
“I’ve had a long career myself,” he said. “Strong teams can win even when they don’t play well, while weaker teams often can’t win even when they play well.”
“In this situation, I think as a team, we did what we needed to do. Not conceding goals and executing solidly during difficult periods, pushing the game forward with shared understanding, is not common in other national teams. Winning despite not playing well is not ordinary.”
Kamada was clear, however, that simply finding ways to win poor performances should not become Japan’s main objective. He said the team’s priority remains to combine results with a high standard of football and to respond to problems as they emerge.
“Rather than always ‘winning despite not playing well,’ of course there will occasionally be games where we don’t play well, so winning those games is important,” he said.
“But fundamentally, we want to play good football and win convincinglythat’s what I always think. I hope to address the issues that arise one by one and improve in every match.”
