Even with the top continental ranking and players of vast international experience, Hajime Moriyasu’s Japan squad faces a journey into the unknown in back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against North Korea. Asian qualifying resumes Thursday with Japan hosting North Korea in Tokyo. Five days later, Japan will be playing in Pyongyang in front of a potential crowd of 50,000 — almost exclusively North Korean — at the Kim Il Sung Stadium.
Ito has been playing for French club Reims, scoring the winning goal against Metz on Sunday. “I tried to imagine what the surrounding environment would have been like for him in Japan and I didn’t think it would be one that would allow him to live and play football in peace,” Moriyasu said. “It wasn’t just him - I didn’t think the whole team would have been able to go about their business in peace.