Everything Japan has achieved is thanks in large part to their coach, Hajime Moriyasu, whose story with the national team is truly remarkable.
Moriyasu took charge of Japan in 2017, and since then he has recorded 72 wins in 103 games. Just think about that number.
But the impressive part isn’t the statistics — it’s the quality of those victories. He has beaten Germany twice, including a stunning 4-1 win, defeated Spain, Brazil, and Turkey by four goals, and two months ago became the first coach to lead an Asian national team to a victory over England.
What makes the story even better is that 36 years ago, while he was on a training stint with Manchester United, he was asked a mocking question: “Do Japanese people even know how to play football?”
From that moment on, he set out to build a national team that would earn the respect of the entire football world.
A truly great coach ❤️