Worried, Hidemasa Morita makes a demand at Sporting | OneFootball

The days go by and, between completed suspensions and recovery processes, Rui Borges sees Sporting’s squad gaining new options. This increase in alternatives also means greater internal demands, as those who remain in the group must raise their level to keep their place in the lineup.

It is precisely with this mindset that Hidemasa Morita, the 30-year-old midfielder, is facing the current moment. The Lions’ midfield once again has Morten Hjulmand, after he served two suspensions—one in the league, against Casa Pia, and another in the Champions League, against PSG. Daniel Bragança, who was out for 11 months, has returned, and João Simões, just 19 years old, is becoming an increasingly established option in the starting eleven.

After playing two consecutive full matches for the first time in about a year and a half—something that hadn’t happened since the games against PSV on September 27, 2024, and Estoril on October 1 of the same year—the Japanese international spoke to the media in his country about his ambition to increase his playing time, at a time when the World Cup is emerging as one of his main short-term goals.

"I was in a position where I needed—and I knew this—to make an impact in the last two games, and I feel that I managed to perform well," began the Sporting midfielder, who added: "Because if I’m not called up in March [editor’s note: in the last FIFA window before the American tournament, Japan faces England at Wembley], there’s no World Cup. In other words, I need to prove that I am necessary."

Despite already having played 26 matches for Sporting in 2025/26, Morita has not yet been used by Hajime Moriyasu’s national team this season. The March call-up thus appears as a decisive opportunity to secure a spot in the international competition, in which he has not yet participated and which the player considers a window that will be difficult to reach again after 2026.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.