Those responsible for the scouting department of the German Football Association can look forward to very pleasant working conditions these days.

No need to travel to distant continents to study their first World Cup opponents, the Japan national team is currently in Dusseldorf, where they beat the USA 2-0 on Friday before playing a second game against Ecuador on Tuesday.

However, the observers are likely to be less pleased about the knowledge they have been able to gain about the “Blue Samurai” than about the short journey.

The training takes place in strict isolation from the public, and on the pitch the Asians seem to be a good deal further than national coach Hansi Flick with his World Cup project.

"All in all, I'm very pleased with the performance of my team," said coach Hajime Moriyasu after the impressive performance against the Americans who had no chance at all.

The German opponent, who started with Bundesliga players Maya Yoshida (Schalke), Waturo Endo (Stuttgart) and Daichi Kamada (Frankfurt), before introducing Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg) and Genki Haraguchi (Union Berlin) at half-time plays pretty much the kind of football that the DFB team doesn't seem to like at all: extremely disciplined, well organised, powerful and full of energy.

"There are some things that worked very well and we found out why it worked here today," said veteran captain Yoshida.

This makes it possible that “we can do it in every game”.

With "it" the confident defense chief meant a style of play that is a little reminiscent of the style of Bundesliga leaders Union Berlin and can hurt the individually stronger opponents a lot.

"We want to play quick vertical attacks as a team when we win the ball," explained coach Moriyasu;

this strategy could be excellent if the Japanese face possession teams Germany and Spain in Qatar.

In addition, the "Blue Samurai" seem to get the right timing for their World Cup project, because they have recently been able to improve continuously.

The World Cup qualification went smoothly, the team won five of the eight international matches in 2022, and the narrow 0-1 defeat against Brazil after a penalty goal by Neymar in June was also considered a positive experience, because the giants from South America could not score a goal from the game out succeeded.

In the final stages of the game against the USA, Moriyasu also tested a three-man chain system, which was new for the side.

Makoto Hasebe from Eintracht Frankfurt, who has a lot of experience with this formation, may have had a hand in this.

Although Hasebe retired from the national team in 2018,

but was visiting his former teammates in Düsseldorf for three days.

"It's an opportunity to receive various advices and hear valuable stories," Yoshida said of his exchange with Hasebe-san.

The good development is not only reflected in the results, but also in the level at which many players have established themselves.

Central defender Takehiro Tomyasu is at the top of the Premier League with Arsenal, while the "Japanese Messi" Takefusa Kubo failed to make it to Real Madrid, but left the royal club for San Sebastián last summer, where he is now a fixture in the Spanish La Liga.

Hidemasa Morita plays with Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League and formed a bulwark in the center of midfield that is as clever as it is tough with Stuttgart's Endo.

"They showed how well they fit together," coach Moriyasu said of his double six.

Moriyasu rested former Liverpool player Takumi Minamino, who now plays for AS Monaco, that day,

The Frankfurter scored his sixth goal for Japan in his 20th international match and, as a Europa League winner, is now one of the most respected players in the team.

The Bundesliga professional not only "contributed to the team's victory" with this goal, but also by dedicating himself to "the defense" with great passion as a striker, said Moriyasu.

Mitoma scored the second just before the final whistle, but three or four goals could have been done given the team's impressive superiority.

Moriyasu is "confident" his team will be "even better", meaning Germany could face a similar difficult start to the World Cup as they did in 2018, when they lost their opening game 1-0 to Mexico and ended after the preliminary round.