Blossoming at Saints after a dream move last summer, following a series of eye-catching performances with Japan at the London Olympics, Maya Yoshida now has his sights set on playing on the biggest stage of all.

The Samurai Blue are on the brink of qualifying for next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil, and victory over Jordan in Amman today would see the Asian champions become the first team to book their tickets to South America.

“Obviously, the World Cup is a tournament that every footballer wants to play in. It’s not like everyone gets the chance,” said Yoshida, who did not make the squad for the 2010 finals in South Africa, where Japan made it out of the group stage for the first time on foreign soil before succumbing on penalties to Paraguay in the round of 16.

“For me personally, I would love to play at the World Cup. Japan have to be at the World Cup but we can’t go there and just be making up the numbers. Once we have qualified we have to work out how we can get the right sort of results.

“Playing at the World Cup is an objective I set myself a few years ago and something that I have always had in my thoughts. I want to play well for Japan and take my game to the next level in England.”

Japan hammered Jordan 6-0 at home in Saitama in June, but Yoshida insists his teammates must take nothing for granted today.

“Whenever we play teams in the Middle East it is always the same,” said the 24-year-old defender. “The opponents, the refereeing, the climate all combine to make things difficult. We can’t have that 6-0 home win on our minds and have to take the approach that we are facing a completely new team.

“We can’t have any peace of mind until we have qualified. We want to do that as quickly as we can, as it will give us the chance then to try new things in the build up.”

Yoshida has firmly established himself as a first-team regular at Saints, playing the full 90 minutes in the last 26 games for the club.

“I have improved the physical side of my game to cope with the demands of English football and that has given me real confidence,” said the centre half. “Obviously it helps you become a better player when you are up against top quality opposition week in week out.

“Every time I am called up for international duty I am looking to show how much I have grown.”

More Saints stories