Japan’s Under-23 national team will face their Brazilian counterparts in a friendly shortly before the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The match will take place on Saturday, July 30 at the Estadio Serra Dourada in Goiania.

“It’s important that we play a strong opponent we wouldn’t normally face until we progressed in the tournament,” coach Makoto Teguramori said. 

“That’s especially true when you consider how significant our opening match will be. This will be a chance to increase our intensity ahead of the tournament and I hope the players will gain valuable experience from this match.”

Japan, who finished fourth at the 2012 London Olympics, have been matched with Sweden, Colombia and Nigeria in the group stage.