Southampton avoided relegation by the finest margins last season and the Blue Samurai centre-back indicated it was a tumultuous period of his career.

It took until August for Japan to book their tickets to Russia after a 2-0 win over the Socceroos.

And in April, it was announced Japan had sacked manager Vahid Halilhodzic after the team’s poor performances.

Yoshida has been at Southampton for six years and still sees his future at St Mary’s Stadium.

“We survived, the players had a difficult time and I wanted to share my feelings in both English and Japanese,” Yoshida said in Kazan on Friday.

“The frustrations with Southampton and the Japanese team are really similar and we both struggled a lot through the season and qualification for the World Cup.

“After qualifying, we still had this hard time. That experience through the Premier League season helps us a lot I believe and I want to bring my experience and feeling to the Japanese squad as well.

“We struggled a lot last season especially the second-half of the season. We dropped so many points, we had so many issues about the transfer market and we had new managers.

“Every week, I play against good players, that experience helps the national team as well. I enjoy myself every season, but I think it’s the toughest league in the world.”

Japan’s situation is similar to the Socceroos, as they have had to adapt to coach Akira Nishino in the past three months.

Yoshida admits the expectations aren’t as high compared to the previous two campaigns due to the team’s performances.

Japan have conceded eight goals in their past four games, but Yoshida said he was still confident his side can stun Colombia next week.

“Things in life change very quickly, if we win one game, I think the expectations will change quickly,” he said.

“I believe Japanese fans love football, so it’s going to be key for Japanese football in the next 12 months.

“After this, we have the Asian Cup, so we’re key to moving Japanese football forward and we have to carry our people’s minds while representing our country.

“Even coming from the Premier League, the World Cup is different because it’s a different experience, atmosphere and pressure from the country and representing our country is a massive honour.

“Our expectation isn’t as high as last time, but we still have a lot of confidence. It’s going to be really important for my career, this could be the last one… I don’t know, so I’ll try my best.

“I don’t want to regret anything like I did at the last World Cup in Brazil, I want to give 100%.

“We’re preparing very well, even if we have these frustrations and issues after the game against (4-2 win) Paraguay and all the players feel a lot better from a couple of days ago.”