Brazil manager Mano Menezes has travelled to Paris to take a look at next opponent Japan as they take on France in a friendly international on Friday.
After two comfortable wins over Asian sides, 8-0 against an understrength China and 6-0 against Iraq, there is some complacency in the Brazilian media over the fixture, but Menezes is not taking the Japanese side lightly.
“They are a more rounded team, more accustomed to playing against big sides,” Mano told his post-match press conference. “We will have to be better than today.
“We can beat Japan. We never expect a game to be high-scoring. It’s not normal in modern football.”
Japanese football has strengthened greatly in the past few years and their fourth-place at the Olympic Games demonstrates a promising future.
With several players impressing in the Bundesliga, as well as Shinji Kagawa at Manchester United, Brazil will come-up against a technically gifted side on Tuesday night who will present an entirely different challenge to the past two opponents.
