'I will fight' - Leeds United star's nine-word World Cup vow after perfectly-timed boost
Leeds United midfielder Ao Tanaka played a big role in Japan's pre-World Cup success.
Leeds United midfielder Ao Tanaka has vowed to ‘fight responsibly’ as Japan head to the 2026 World Cup off the back of a pre-tournament victory.
Tanaka earned a well-timed return to the starting-XI on Sunday as Japan beat Iceland 1-0 in a pre-World Cup friendly. The Leeds star got 73 minutes under his belt in a midfield pair alongside Liverpool’s Wataru Endo.
The friendly in Tokyo was goalless when Tanaka was replaced by Keisuke Goto but Japan won it late on with a header from NEC Nijmegen forward Koki Ogawa. And the Elland Road favourite published a post-win message on social media.
In a post on Instagram following the win, Tanaka wrote: “Thank you for your support. I will fight responsibly.”
Tanaka and his Japan teammates will soon fly from Tokyo across the North Pacific Ocean ahead of their World Cup campaign. Their first game of Group F is against the Netherlands in Dallas, Texas on Sunday June 14.
Having earned himself a starting place for the final warm-up game, Tanaka might hope to retain his place when the serious action kicks off. After the Netherlands, Japan face Tunisia in Guadalupe, Mexico on June 21 before a meeting with Gabriel Gudmundsson’s Sweden back in Dallas five days later.
Japan are heading into this summer’s World Cup in great form, too, having not lost since a 2-0 defeat against the USA back in September. They’re now seven matches unbeaten and have enjoyed big wins over Brazil, England and Scotland in the process.
Tanaka will hope to help Japan into the knockout stages for the third consecutive World Cup, with the nation making it into the last-16 in both 2022 and 2018. They have never managed to progress beyond that stage, however.
Elsewhere on the World Cup warm-up front, Leeds winger Noah Okafor missed Switzerland’s 4-1 weekend win over Jordan as he manages a calf issue. Brenden Aaronson was an unused substitute in the USA’s 3-2 win over Senegal while Gudmundsson’s Sweden face Norway this evening.