Japanese soccer, which is considered the only check target of Korean soccer, will play its first Asian Cup match.
Since he recently showed off his tremendous firepower of 45 goals by winning 10 consecutive A matches, attention is focusing on the contents and results of the first game. The opponent is Vietnam, the strongest in Southeast Asia, which coach Park Hang-seo led until early last year.
Japan and Vietnam will have their first Group D match at the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup at Altumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Five years ago, the two teams met in the quarterfinals of the 2019 UAE Asian Cup, and Japan won 1-0 thanks to Doan Rits’ first goal. At the next Qatar Asian Cup, the team will face off from the group stage.
Attention is focusing on what kind of soccer Japan will play against Vietnam, which is expected to form a dense defense. While South Korea is considered the best ever, mainly players playing for top European teams such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), and Lee Kang-in (PSG), Japan is also being praised as the best squad ever. Japan is knocking on the top of the Asian Cup for the 헤라카지노 first time in 13 years since winning the Qatar Championship in 2011.
At this year’s event, Japan added a total of 26 entries and 20 players from European leagues playing in England, Scotland, Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Belgium to make a truly luxurious list. The remaining six are five players who play in the J-League of Japan, and Shogo Taniguchi, a defender playing in Al-Raiyan, Qatar.
Daichi Kamada, who plays for Italy’s prestigious Lazio, and Kyogo Furuhashi, the Scottish Premiership’s top scorer last season, were even eliminated from the entry.
Moreover, they have displayed impressive performances in recent A-match games, and if a closed exhibition match against Jordan on September 9 was held, they won all 10 matches in the past, scoring 45 points and allowing six goals. They have not played the game just with Asian teams. In September last year, they flew to Europe to smash Germany 4-1 at home against the German team, and beat Germany 4-2 at home against the Turkiye in Belgium. Both teams had their coaches replaced immediately after the match against Japan.
As a result, Japan has become the most threatened team for Korean soccer, which has won its first championship in 64 years.
Korea has five to six top European players as its core members. It is also true that the two players have some power gaps. Japan, on the other hand, does not have superstars such as Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae, but its players are so skillful that Coach Hajime Moriyasu continuously performs rotation in each exhibition game.
In other words, this is the first time that Japan will hold its home test against Vietnam, not a mock test. Vietnam was strong enough to advance to the quarterfinals at the Asian Cup and to the final Asian qualifying round at the World Cup when coach Park Hang-seo was in charge, but has been suffering from a generational change since Park left early last year. French national coach Philippe Trusier, who led Japan to the round of 16 at the 2002 World Cup Korea-Japan, is taking the helm after Park, but his leadership is already under fire.
Vietnam is expected to display robust defense against Japan. Attention is focusing on how to overcome this and continue the power of the Japanese soccer team, which scores an average of 4.5 goals per game in Qatar.
Coach Moriyasu and captain Endo Wattaru of Liverpool calmly spoke of their goal of winning the game at a pre-press conference against Vietnam.
“I participated in the event to secure a victory. I will do my best in every upcoming game. An earthquake hit Japan in the new year, and many people are suffering. I hope that the national soccer team can be a strength to those who are suffering,” Moriyasu said. “There are seven games to the final, and each game has a different way of coping. I think all the players will be able to perform well as a team. I will think about the seven games we have to play,” he said, clearly expressing his will to win the title.
Endo, who plays for Liverpool, a prestigious English Premier League team, also nailed that he has no other goal than winning.
“I hope that Endo and Mohamed Salah (Egyptian national team) can be eliminated from the group league (in the Asian Cup and the African Cup of Nations) soon,” Jürgen Klopp, who is in charge of Liverpool, said with a smile when asked about his comment, “It’s a joke from Klopp. It’s also a huge honor as it means that I need Liverpool. However, as I am currently the captain of the Japanese national team, I just want to win the championship and go back.”
If South Korea and Japan rank first in their respective groups, they will be in the final in terms of their matches. With the first voyage of the two countries, which are expected to clash in the finals, Japan will cut off the first tape first.