Moriyasu is the first coach from Japan to continue working after a World Cup.
Japan defender, Shogo Taniguchi, has been officially signed by Qatar’s Al Rayyan, the first-division club said on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old centre back started two games as the Samurai Blue proceeded to the round of 16 during the World Cup 2022 in Qatar just weeks ago.
From the University of Tsukuba, Taniguchi joined Kawasaki Frontale in 2014 and went on to win four J. League championships with the team, which he captained from 2020, according to Japan Times.
The native of Kumamoto Prefecture was chosen more than once for the J-Best League’s XI, most recently in 2022 when Frontale finished second to rivals Yokohama F. Marinos.
It is unclear how much the Qatari deal is worth.
Japan won two games and lost one at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, exiting the tournament in the knockouts after a defeat on penalties by Croatia.
While the Samurai Blue fell short of reaching the quarter-finals, they put on an epic performance in the group stages with surprise victories over Germany and Spain.
This week, Japan’s head coach, Hajime Moriyasu confirmed he would remain in his position following the epic run.
“This is really the happiest job”, Moriyasu said of his reappointment.
“It’s a job that gives me a chance to compete on a global stage with the pride of being Japanese. That’s why I decided to accept the offer”, he said.
Moriyasu is the first coach from Japan to continue working after a World Cup.
Kozo Tajima, the head of the Japan Football Association, praised Moriyasu for “elevating the international status of Japan’s football” and announced that the 54-year-new old’s contract will last “until the next World Cup.”
Moriyasu reiterated that Japan is on the right track despite the pain of their exit in Qatar.
“We weren’t able to overcome this hurdle of losing in the last 16 and you might say that we didn’t achieve anything new,” he said.
“But the players have shown us something that we haven’t seen before by beating former champions like Germany and Spain.”
Aside from football, Japan left a positive mark during Qatar 2022 after fans and team members of the Samurai Blue were filmed cleaning up stadiums and changing rooms after matches.
While the stadium started to empty, Japanese fans who stayed behind were seen pulling out light blue disposable trash bags to clean up in the stands.
Similar scenes were spotted at the 2018 World Cup in Russia despite Japan’s devastating loss to Belgium in the round of 16.
