Primeira Liga stars at World Cup 2022: Japan’s Morita gunning to upset the odds | OneFootball

After rising to the top in Portugal, Hidemasa Morita will want to gain recognition on the world stage at World Cup 2022, but his Japan side will come up against tough opposition against Spain and Germany in Group E.

Morita’s time in Portugal has been impressive, the combative midfielder garnering widespread praise in his debut season for Santa Clara before earning a move to Portuguese giants Sporting this past summer.

After signing for Santa Clara in the January transfer window of 2021, he made an instant impact on his debut by netting an 88th minute winner against Rio Ave and setting the tone for what would be a breakout season in European football. He would go on to play every minute of every league game from that moment on, and despite only playing in the league for half a season he was included by many pundits in their ‘Team of the Season’.

A notably underwhelming second season in the Azores followed, leading to some doubts over the player’s mental fortitude after not securing an expected move to a bigger club in the summer, but it wasn’t enough to put off Sporting who signed the Japanese midfielder for €3.8M in the summer of 2022.

Difficult acts to follow

At first it seemed like Morita may have walked into a difficult situation with Sporting selling two talismanic midfielders in João Palhinha and Matheus Nunes. With a lot to live up to in terms of his predecessors, and despite a sticky start to life at his new club, he soon won round the fans with impressive performances both in the league and in Europe.

Morita has scored more league goals for Sporting this season (3) than he managed in 1.5 seasons at Santa Clara (2).

The stage was set for Morita to head to Qatar in great form and full of confidence, only for a last-minute calf injury to raise question marks about his fitness, but he was deemed fit enough to be called up to the squad and could be in line for a start in Japan’s first group game against Germany on Wednesday.

Fans of the Samurai Blue will have been disappointed to see them drawn in a group with two recent world cup winners in Spain and Germany, making their chances of progressing to the round of 16 somewhat unlikely, but Morita and his compatriots will be aiming to cause an upset in the first World Cup in their continent since 2002.

In the thick of the action

Morita’s all-action style should see him at the centre of the action in those two games, his role in midfield being to break up attacks and set his team on the counter on the likely few occasions they have possession of the ball.

Spain and Germany will provide a level of opposition that Morita is not accustomed to, but his energy levels and composure on the ball in the middle of the park could prove to be invaluable attributes in two games where Japan will have little time on the ball, and opportunities to make an impact going forward will be few and far between.

It may turn out to be a fleeting visit to the Persian Gulf for Morita’s Japan, but the opportunity for a young, relatively unknown midfielder, plying his trade in Portugal to make in impact on the biggest stage will give Morita all the motivation he needs to try and cause an upset.