Germany’s opening World Cup game against Japan will set the tone for the rest of the tournament — both for the team and the fans who may or may not be watching at home. Japan is bidding to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in its seventh straight World Cup appearance. Maya Yashida knows much of the German team from his tussles with Bayern Munich players and others while playing with Schalke. They came to Japan and made a great effort to develop soccer in Japan. We are very grateful to German people,” said Moriyasu, who noted that Germany also won the World Cup when it was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea in 2002.
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