Will the Japanese national soccer team play against North Korea in Pyongyang for the first time in 13 years? It has also been pointed out that it is ``frightening for Japanese athletes''

The Japanese national team will play away against North Korea on the 26th of this month in the second round of the Asian World Cup qualifying matches. The venue is scheduled to be Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, but the venue for the match is currently unknown.
It has not been officially decided whether this will happen. On the 2nd of this month, an inspection team from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) entered Pyongyang and inspected the Kim Il Sung Stadium, which is scheduled to be the venue for the match.
We checked the condition of the stadium. AFC officials have indicated they intend to make a decision on the venue soon. Meanwhile, major Japanese media reported that AFC had determined that there was no problem with hosting the event in Pyongyang.
, it has been learned that adjustments are being made to hold the event at the same location as scheduled. Is it because there are no regular flights between Japan and North Korea, and there are many uncertainties from the perspective of competition management?
It is always difficult to conduct official warfare in North Korea. The first match of the Asian final qualifying round for the Paris Olympics on the 24th of last month, between Japan's Nadeshiko Japan and North Korea, was originally scheduled to be held at Kim Il Sung Stadium.
Ta. Nadeshiko Japan was expected to travel to Pyongyang, but the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) proposed holding the match at a neutral venue for the reasons mentioned above. In response, North Korea expressed its desire to hold the event in China.
However, the Chinese side was not prepared and coordination was difficult. Since North Korea was treated as the home match for this match, the North Korean side had the right to choose an alternative venue, and Japan had no choice but to wait for the decision.
It was decided that it would be held on the 21st of last month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Japanese national team players playing overseas are considering going directly to the country instead of returning to Japan to reduce the burden of travel.
However, since the venue was not decided, some players temporarily returned to Japan. Saki Kumagai, the captain of Nadeshiko Japan and a player in Rome, Italy, was one of them. Kumagaya
At a press conference before departing to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where the match venue was hastily decided, the players said, ``This shouldn't happen.The organizers must also ensure that the players are in their best condition.''
I have a responsibility to do so," he complained. The decision to hold the match in Jeddah was made three days before the match. The players entered the match without having enough time to adjust.
On the 26th of this month, the Japan men's national team will play an away match against North Korea in the second round of World Cup Asian qualifying matches. AFC is making adjustments to hold the event in Pyongyang as planned.
Although it has been reported, there has been no official announcement from AFC yet. Japan Association Managing Director Tsuneyasu Miyamoto said on the 7th, ``We communicated with AFC and learned about the girls, so we hope something like that will never happen.''
This has put a considerable burden on the team, so we will continue to communicate with (AFC) to ask them to contact us if they receive final confirmation as soon as possible. Can be used in any case
We always have a system in place to ensure that We are preparing to handle whatever happens in the men's game." Coach Hajime Moriyasu also told reporters on the 9th, ``First of all, we will play a game in Pyongyang.''
I am currently assuming that this will happen. Even if things change, I hope we can deal with them as part of our decisions." On the other hand, Moriyasu said, ``This is the case in Asia.
This may have been a long time ago, but I think it's a problem that teams have to travel back and forth across countries on an international stage, and schedules such as match venues cannot be determined.
I think so,” he said. ``I would like the people who decide games to think about this,'' he said, calling on the AFC and other organizations to make improvements.
If the match is held in Pyongyang, it will be a great opportunity for the Japanese national team to attend the Brazil World Cup in November 2011.
This is the first time in 13 years since the third qualifying round. Approximately 50,000 spectators gathered at Kim Il Sung Stadium, which was named after Kim Jung Eun's grandfather Kim Il Sung.
The Japanese representative was booed. Japan struggled in a tough away match, losing 0-1. Korean media reports that the Japanese national team will struggle if the match on the 26th is held in Pyongyang.
predict. OSEN, a comprehensive sports and entertainment site, said, ``For Japanese players, North Korea is an object of fear,'' and ``Regardless of their soccer ability, playing in North Korea itself is a burden.
"It will become." SPOTV NEWS said, ``From Japan's perspective, North Korea is much tougher than Syria and Myanmar in the same group, and we have less information, so we have a more delicate approach.''
``From North Korea's point of view, fear is enough to use fear as a weapon.'' If the match on the 26th is held in Pyongyang, North Korea will play at the National Stadium in Tokyo on the 21st.
It was predicted that they would try to at least bring the match to a draw and use a strategy of concentrating all their efforts for the match in Pyongyang.