The Samurai Blue of Japan will battle the Black Stars of Ghana in the opener of the Kirin tournament starting on 10 June 2022 at 09:55 GMT at the Misaki Park Stadium.
It will be the 21st edition of the international friendly football tournament, with the last one taking place in 2016. Japan was in the final of that edition, losing 2-1 to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Ghana has been invited to compete for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Chile and Tunisia will also battle each other in the first semi-final on Friday. While this is just a friendly game, it will be a good opportunity for the teams to get themselves ready ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar.
The four-time African champions have assembled eighteen players for the tournament including Hearts of Oak duo, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, and Dennis Korsah.
First choice goalkeeper Jojo Wollacot, Gideon Mensah, Jonathan Mensah, Richard Ofori, Antoine Selorm Semenyo, and Elisha Owusu didn’t travel with the team to the Asian country for the two friendlies.
HEAD TO HEAD
This will be the seventh meeting between the two sides across all competitions, with all games producing decisive results.
Ghana has just two wins to their names against their Asian rivals, who have four wins in this fixture.
The West African side has found the back of the net in all six games in this fixture but has been outscored 12-10 by Japan, who have failed to score in their two losses against Ghana.
Japan has five clean sheets in their last 10 games across all competitions while the Black Stars have three shutouts in their last 10 games across all competitions.
Both sides scored four goals in their two games in the ongoing international break ahead of this match.
CHANNEL TO WATCH: Ghana Football Association App, Max TV
KICK OFF: 9:55 GMT
