TOKYO, September 12 (QNA) - Japan plan to play England in a warm-up match in May ahead of the World Cup finals in South Africa, on condition that they are not drawn in the same pool, a sports daily said Friday.
The two associations have reached a "basic agreement" on staging the friendly, possibly on May 29 in Austria, the Nikkan Sports daily said.
Japan Football Association spokesman Ichirota Fukushi said he was unable to confirm the report.
England beat Croatia 5-1 at home on Wednesday to book their place in South Africa 2010 with a clean record of eight straight wins in Europe's Group Six.
They plan to have a training camp in Austria, possibly in Salzburg, from May 27, the daily said.
Japan, who qualified for the finals by finishing second to Australia in Asia's Group A, will be training in the Swiss town of Montana around that time.
In their two previous internationals, Japan lost to England 2-1 in 1995 in London and drew 1-1 in 2004 in Manchester.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada has vowed to test his Blue Samurai against the world's footballing powers as he chases a top-four finish in South Africa.
The former Asian champions went down 3-0 to the Netherlands in a friendly in Enschede on Saturday, but battled from behind to beat African qualifiers Ghana 4-3 in Utrecht on Wednesday.
They will host Scotland and Togo in October and travel to Durban for a friendly against South Africa in November.(QNA)
Source: http://www.qnaol.net
The two associations have reached a "basic agreement" on staging the friendly, possibly on May 29 in Austria, the Nikkan Sports daily said.
Japan Football Association spokesman Ichirota Fukushi said he was unable to confirm the report.
England beat Croatia 5-1 at home on Wednesday to book their place in South Africa 2010 with a clean record of eight straight wins in Europe's Group Six.
They plan to have a training camp in Austria, possibly in Salzburg, from May 27, the daily said.
Japan, who qualified for the finals by finishing second to Australia in Asia's Group A, will be training in the Swiss town of Montana around that time.
In their two previous internationals, Japan lost to England 2-1 in 1995 in London and drew 1-1 in 2004 in Manchester.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada has vowed to test his Blue Samurai against the world's footballing powers as he chases a top-four finish in South Africa.
The former Asian champions went down 3-0 to the Netherlands in a friendly in Enschede on Saturday, but battled from behind to beat African qualifiers Ghana 4-3 in Utrecht on Wednesday.
They will host Scotland and Togo in October and travel to Durban for a friendly against South Africa in November.(QNA)
Source: http://www.qnaol.net