Kishida: Samurai Blue surprised world

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:09 JST, December 8, 2022

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida praised Japan’s national soccer team on Thursday, saying that the Samurai Blue “surprised the world and without a doubt gave courage and energy to fans in Japan.”

Members of the national team, led by head coach Hajime Moriyasu and captain Maya Yoshida, met Kishida at the Prime Minister’s Office a day after arriving in Japan from the World Cup in Qatar.

Moriyasu presented Kishida with a Japan national team uniform and expressed his gratitude, saying, “Thanks to everyone’s encouragement from Japan, we were able to compete bravely.”