South Africa face the hosts in the one-off Kirin Challenge Cup at General Sports Stadim in Matsumoro as they continue preparations for next month’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Having used mainly Under-23s for the weekend’s COSAFA Cup win, Da Gama is expecting a much tougher and more tactical challenge from Japan.
“During the Olympic Games we are going to come across many different styles of football, therefore we thought it necessary to test different variations of our game,” Da Gama says.
“The beauty of football is that although there are many different styles to the game, the foundations of defending and attack are always similar.
“Japan played against Iraq during the Olympic qualifiers of the Asian region, and they were crowned champions, therefore, it is great that we have been bestowed with this opportunity to play them in this once-off encounter.”
Da Gama adds that they will be tested by the stronger oppostion, but that is exactly what they want ahead of Rio.
“Japan is tactically very disciplined and organized throughout the match. They have been together for about three years and that means they have a very strong bond amongst their players. Our strengths are based on keeping ball possession, while they like to press high.
“They have a collective defensive organization and are a hard team to break down from what we have seen, so it is going to be very interesting for us to try and break them down.
“We are going to use this match to build on our strengths and weaknesses, along with gaining the much need confidence going forward.”
The South African Olympic team has been drawn into Group A against hosts Brazil, Iraq and Denmark, while Japan is in Group B with Nigeria, Colombia and Sweden.