Leeds United midfielder Ao Tanaka was 11 years old when he watched the last international meeting between Japan and England and now he’s hoping to play in the fixture.
The Three Lions’ last game against Japan was in 2010, the final warm-up game prior to the World Cup. England enjoyed victory but it was unconvincing. Tanaka’s namesake, the Brazilian-born Marcus Tulio Tanaka, headed Japan in front and then headed one into his own net from Joe Cole’s cross. Frank Lampard missed a spot-kick for England, who went ahead when Yuji Nakazawa inadvertently turned Ashley Cole's ball into his own net for a second own goal of the game and a match winner.
Watching on TV that day was 11-year-old Ao Tanaka, who has not enjoyed the debut Premier League season of his dreams with just seven starts, but has a World Cup to dream about this summer.
“It is always good for me to play for the national team and I am so happy every time I play,” he said after being called up for this month’s games against England and Scotland. “The last time we played was November, and soon we have the World Cup so this is an important month. I am so excited because we do not normally play against a European country because they have qualifiers, so it is a good thing for us. Before the World Cup, we want to play against a good country so yeah, it is good to have these hard games coming up. It is my first time playing at Wembley, the last time we played England I watched on TV, so it will be good.”
Tanaka and Japan travel to Hampden Park on Saturday to face Scotland in their first battle with a European nation since 2023, and then take on England at Wembley on Tuesday night in a fixture that could pit the midfielder against his Elland Road team-mate. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is back in the England squad after a five-year absence, though he is part of the first group in what Thomas Tuchel has described as a ‘unique camp.’ A number of England regulars are being given a break for the first game against Uruguay and will then link up with the squad to prepare for and take on Japan, with some others heading home. For both Tanaka and Calvert-Lewin this month’s international fixtures could go a long way to deciding their World Cup fates, regardless of what happens in their club season with Leeds United.
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