Japan overturned the odds in the first round of World Cup qualifying with a historic 2-1 victory over Germany. Kaoru Mitoma (25) (Brighton, England) came on for Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo) in the 57th minute. He was able to dribble his way into the opposition line, and in the scene of the equalizer in the 75th minute, he provided a well-placed vertical pass to Takumi Minamino (Monaco/France), who also came on in the middle of the field, from the left side of the opposition line. He was the key to Ritsu Doan&#8217;s (Freiburg/Bundesliga) equalizer.
 Mitomo is a world-class &#8220;dribbler,&#8221; but what is the reason for his strength? We asked a person who has known him since his early elementary school days to tell us the secret.
<figure id="attachment_277189" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-277189" style="width: 5392px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1d865661"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/11/KK9_8028-2-20221124110202133.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-277189" class="wp-caption-text"> Mitsumata (25) creates chances with his signature dribble against Germany.</figcaption></figure>
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 I met Kaoru (Misuzumi) in the end of my first or second year of elementary school at Saginuma SC, an elementary school soccer club in Kawasaki. He was very good from that time. He was the best player on the team. I was still small at the time, so we didn&#8217;t think about becoming professionals in the future or anything like that (laughs).
 Koji Kishi, who played for Kawasaki Frontale and now plays for Evrytha Fujisawa United, said, &#8220;I was the best player on the team at the time. Koji Kishi, who played for Kawasaki Frontale and now plays for Evrytha Fujisawa United, recalls that Misumi&#8217;s enthusiasm for soccer was &#8220;exceptional&#8221; even back then.
 He was so enthusiastic that he was always the first to arrive for practice and the last to leave. Even after practice was over, he would work on his core with Ao Tanaka. I have the image of him working hard from preparation to the end of practice. Players who become professionals love soccer, and their attitude toward the game is completely different. They love soccer and talk about it all the time. They do what is necessary for soccer, no matter how hard it is. Other players talked about things other than soccer, and there was a sense that it was okay to cut corners a little bit, but players who become professionals practice as a matter of course.
<figure id="attachment_277195" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-277195" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a6ca958d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/11/IMG_1943-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-277195" class="wp-caption-text"> Misumi (far left) and Kishi (far right) were called &#8220;Tsubasa-kun and Misaki-kun&#8221; in reference to the duo in &#8220;Captain Tsubasa.</figcaption></figure>
 Ao Tanaka, who played for Kawasaki Frontale as well as Mitate and Kishi, is currently playing for Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany. She is currently playing for Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany. She was selected for this World Cup along with Misumi.
 Heki and Kaoru both really enjoyed playing soccer. I think practice is hard, but they do it without hesitation. And when practice was over, they would talk about how they could dribble past him, not about how hard the practice was. Kaoru and Aoi are &#8220;exceptional&#8221; in the fact that they do not cut corners in hard practices and at the same time enjoy playing soccer. I think that is the difference between a pro and a player who did not become a pro. It&#8217;s about how much you can be greedy for what you love. &#8230;&#8230;
 Moriyasu&#8217;s aggressive second-half leadership paid off for Japan, as they won their next match against Costa Rica (see below). Will Misumi, who has continued to stoically devote himself to soccer, and Tanaka, who has grown with the team, be the key to the next match against Costa Rica (November 27, 19:00 start time in Japan)? We cannot take our eyes off them.

 Courtesy of Kishi (childhood) and Takuya Kaneko (game)

 Japan defied the odds in the first round of World Cup qualifying with a historic 2-1 victory over Germany. Kaoru Mitoma (25) (Brighton/England) came on for Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo) in the 57th minute. His specialty is dribbling, and he was able to get the ball past the opposing keeper.

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