Southampton defender Maya Yoshida has told his Japan teammates to flush the World Cup out of their system and try and restore bruised pride by giving new coach Javier Aguirre a win against Uruguay on Friday in his first game in charge.

Eliminated in the first round of the World Cup in Brazil in June after taking just one point from three games, Japan begins preparing for its Asian Cup title defense against the South Americans in Sapporo, before taking on Venezuela in another friendly in Yokohama on Tuesday.

"As you know, Uruguay is one of the top teams in the world, even without (missing Barcelona star Luis) Suarez," Yoshida told Kyodo News after Wednesday's training session.