Football: Japan to take on Turkey in September friendly

The Japan Football Association said Thursday the men’s national team will play a friendly against Turkey on Sept. 12 in Genk, Belgium. The match will be played three days after the Samurai Blue face Germany in Wolfsburg. Japan, ranked 20th in the world, and Turkey, currently 41st, have played each other twice, with one win apiece. Turkey were 1-0 winners of the most recent encounter, in the round of 16 at the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Japan and South Korea. “I think many people remember the match at the 2002 World Cup,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said. “They were a good team at the time, bu…