Endo Wataru (30), the captain of the Japanese national soccer team and a key midfielder in Liverpool, expressed the difficulties of the Asian Cup.
Japan lost 1-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation Qatar Asian Cup against Iran at the Education Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the 3rd (Korea time). Japan, which boasted the strongest team ever and guaranteed to win, will fall in the quarterfinals.
Japan, which had been leading the trend in the early stages, scored the first goal at the 27th minute in the first half but the game changed in the second half. Amidst Iran’s wave of offensives, the team allowed Mohamed Mohebi to tie the game at the 10th minute in the second half. He then allowed a penalty kick (PK) in extra time in the second half and was beaten by Alireza Jahanbakhsh. Eventually, the game ended with a come-from-behind loss of 1-2.
Japan’s Soccer King said, “Endo had an Asian Cup dilemma,” and reported Endo’s interview on the same day. Endo moved to Liverpool, a prestigious English Premier League (EPL), last summer and became a figure in Asia. He struggled at the beginning of the transfer, but he gradually adapted and increased the number of participants, and he was selected as the “Player of the Month” by the club in December and became the main player. As the captain of the Japanese national team in this tournament, he played full time as a starter for all matches from the group stage to the quarterfinals.
According to the media, Endo said, “I once again felt that the Asian Cup and the World Cup are different.” He added, “I think it’s important to rethink the approach to the Asian team and how to prepare for the tournament.”
He stressed that preparations for the World Cup and the Asian Cup are different. “You don’t have to change your goal of winning the World Cup. But I found it difficult to win the 라바카지노 Asian Cup this time. Now I have to change it,” Endo said.
“There will be more teams that want to beat Japan in World Cup qualifiers or Asian Games. We need to increase our competitiveness.” “It’s hard to define in a word, but it’s proof that Japan has become a strong team,” he said. “Even if you play rough games against us, that’s soccer. You should not give in to it.”
“It’s not that I didn’t have the energy to win. However, it’s hard to win a competition like this, whether it’s Japan, Germany or Brazil.” “I don’t know if this mistake was pressure that we felt at the competition or pressure that the opponent put on us,” he added.