Japan were taking on Venezuela in a friendly match. However, they could only muster a draw in this match partly because of the high temperatures. Japan were coming into the match against Venezuela as the clear favourites to win due to their recent form.

However, they were not able to use the home advantage to great effect after they lost the initiative in the match and could only draw 1-1. The Japan national team manager Alberto Zaccheroni made a number of crucial changes to the team with the view of identifying potential stars prior to the start of the next round of qualification matches.

Venezuela were coming into the match without a great reputation for scoring a lot of high-profile scalps.

However, they have been extremely good in recent years and it was demonstrated in the 1-1 draw. The Japan national team manager Alberto Zaccheroni said that it was a good result considering the heat and also the various changes he has made to the team. Yasuhito Endo opened the scoring for the Japanese the first half, but they could not hold on to the lead for much longer after they conceded a crucial goal. The match remained without any goals from then on.
“They played us well, wouldn’t let us play our game. We’ve got to train harder so we can win the next time out,”

Keisuke Honda said after the match. Nicolas Fedor scored the equaliser for Venezuela after he managed to score from close range. Even though Japan had more opportunities to score a lot of goals in the match, they were not clinical and finishing and paid the price with this draw. The match, though, was extremely popular in Japan and attracted a crowd of more than 40,000. Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa hit the bar in the second half.