Didier Deschamps’ France side host Japan tonight at the Stade de France in Paris, with a view to putting in a confidence-boosting performance for next Tuesday’s critical World Cup qualifier in Madrid against Spain. But on these pages, it’s Japan we’re concerned with! Japan are actually ranked only ten places below France in the FIFA rankings and will not be overawed by their opponents. Japan will then move on to Poland, where they take on Brazil in another testing friendly a few days later.

News from the Japan camp tells us that Maeda has withdrawn through injury, and has been replaced by J1 top scorer Hisashi Sato of Sanfrecce Hiroshima, while Vissel Kobe’s Inoha also pulled out but has not been replaced. There are also rumours that Honda is not fully fit and this could mean Kagawa getting his favoured central attacking midfield role.

Presuming that Yasuhito Endo is selected, he will be making his 122nd appearance – equaling the record long-held by former NT centre back, current Kashiwa Reysol coach Masami Ihara who has sent his congratulations to Endo. Endo will make the record his own, barring any injury mishaps, against Brazil next week.

The game kicks off at 9 pm France time… 4 am Saturday morning in Japan. A tiring start to the weekend for Japanese football fans!