Crystal Palace midfielder Daichi Kamada heads to Wembley with Japan off the back of three consecutive wins at England football's HQ. Can he secure a fourth straight triumph with his country?
Crystal Palace midfielder Daichi Kamada is searching for a fourth consecutive win at Wembley as he prepares to face England with Japan.
Fresh from defeating Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday night, Japan now travel down to London with another major scalp their target as they continue to show their credentials as possible dark horses for the World Cup.
But aside from defeating Thomas Tuchel’s England and getting one over on teammate Dean Henderson, with Adam Wharton returning to Crystal Palace with an injury, Kamada has something else to play for - his unbeaten Wembley run.
First win: FA Cup semi-final v Aston Villa
In front of 82,000 people at Wembley, Crystal Palace were involved in their biggest game since they were last at Wembley in May 2016 for the FA Cup final.
Facing an Aston Villa team that were favourites based on their league position and being a Champions League side, Palace had work to do to reach a second final in a decade.
They certainly did not seem massively fazed by the big stage and took the lead through Eberechi Eze after 31 minutes.
Ismaila Sarr then scored two goals in the second half as Palace brushed Villa aside to reach the final in style, with Kamada playing a full 90 minutes in the heart of midfield alongside Adam Wharton.
Second win: FA Cup final v Manchester City
Of course winning in the semi-final saw them reach the FA Cup final and, facing a Manchester City side who were hoping to use the competition to cover up what had been an otherwise disappointing season, they were heavy underdogs.
For many Palace fans, the memories of the 2016 FA Cup final were ingrained in their minds for bad reasons but this time, the feeling was more, why not?
Henderson saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty to give Palace hope and Eze got onto the end of Daniel Munoz’s cross to stroke home and put Palace into the lead.
It proved to be enough for The Eagles and they won their first-ever FA Cup, with Kamada once again playing a full 90 minutes.
Third win: Community Shield v Liverpool
Another positive memory for Palace was the Community Shield in August, though this was not the best memory for Kamada himself.
Again paired up with Wharton in midfield, Kamada had to be replaced after 29 minutes with an injury.
Fortunately, he was still able to add a Community Shield triumph to his growing list of successes, thanks to Sarr once again scoring on the big stage and Justin Devenny scoring the winning penalty to hand Palace more Wembley glory.
Kamada will now head back to Wembley with good memories. Can he leave with more history made?