Road to Tokyo Olympics 2020->21

Discussion in 'Japan' started by Dax, Oct 11, 2016.

  1. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    #176 Samurai Warrior, Aug 27, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2018
    Same here, that's why I said in an earlier post that Japan is lucky avoiding both of them until the final (providing they reach the final).

    Uzbekistan is more consistent throughout the tournament, unlike the Koreans.

    The Uzbeks already defeated us twice last year:
    1- First by PKs in the final of a friendly tournament played in SE Asia (we were both playing under the same age group, and it was Moriyasu's first matches with this age group).
    2- The second time was in the AFC U-23 championship QF, when they defeated us 0-4 (Japan played with their U-20), then they defeated the South Koreans by penalties in the semifinals before defeating Vietnam in the final.

    So I wish we meet the Uzbeks to know how much Japan progressed since last year and if Moriyasu and his players learned from their mistakes or not.
    On the other hand, it will be special facing off against the Koreans in the final, and -hopefully- leapfrogging them and win the gold medal.
     
  2. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    It is South Korea. Won 4-3 after extra time against Uzbekistan.

    They are now waiting to face the winner from Syria vs Vietnam.
     
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  3. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    UAE won by penalties against North Korea, despite the Koreans being the better side during the match.

    This is the second time in 4 days that UAE played 120 minutes and PKs, unlike Japan who played just 90 minutes in the same amount of time. So with our match against them less than 48 hours away, Japan surely will have fresher legs against them, not to mention that UAE looked weaker than North Korea.

    In the other match, Vietnam vs Syria also went into extra time, as Vietnam emerged victorious, both teams playing evenly with slight advantage for Syria, as Vietnam was the team conceding play and using counter-attacks.

    This makes me wonder, how Vietnam managed to hold more possession against Japan and has more shots, while they struggled against both Bahrain and Syria, as they had less shots and equal possession against Syria and less possession against Bahrain?
    My only explanation is the awkward players selection Moriyasu did against Vietnam, as he started Kamiya and Watanabe at the central midfield, with neither of them can play as a No.6, which made the Japanese midfield unbalanced and gave the Vietnamese the initative to control the midfield.

    So on Wednesday the semifinal line-up is:
    S. Korea vs Vietnam.
    Japan vs UAE.
     
  4. SamuraiBlue2002

    SamuraiBlue2002 Member+

    Dec 20, 2008
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Of course one of the worst Japanese Asian games squads ever would get the furthest.
     
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  5. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Today's starting line-up against UAE:

    GK:
    Kojima.
    DF:
    Hara.
    Tatsuta.
    Sugioka.
    MF:
    Keita Endo.
    Watanabe.
    Kamiya.
    Hatsuse.
    FW:
    Hatate.
    Daizen Maeda.
    Iwasaki.

    Moriyasu with an attacking approach in this game, as he used more attacking-minded players at:
    1- Side-back position: Sugioka and Hara instead of Itakura and Ominami/Okazaki.
    2- Defensivd midfield position: Kamiya instead of Matsumoto (let's hope Kamiya won't screw us again).
    3- Wingback position: Keita Endo and Hatsuse instead of the more defensive minded Naganuma and Sugioka.

    South Korea earlier won their match against Vietnam 3-1. The Koreans dictated the first half while the Vietnamese almost took full control of the second, resulting in more possession and shots for Vietnam in the overall match statistics.
     
  6. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Daizen Maeda's finishing has been horrendous in this tournament.
    While Hatsuse is a disgrace, he is always selfish and never plays for the good of the team.
     
  7. mushu21

    mushu21 Member

    May 18, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I think Japan really hits a new low with Maeda up front.
    Apart from the speed, he offers nothing.

    Even for the U21, the quality from this team is shocking.
    Apart from number 13, 16; no one really impressed me.
     
  8. Gordon1995

    Gordon1995 Member+

    Oct 3, 2013
    Tells you a lot about the quality of this tournament if Japan can win like that. Actually, I think Iwasaki is just decent. He has been good the past 2 matches but before that, he didn't really perform as well as he should imo. OTOH, I feel that Ueda hasn't really been that bad this tournament, has some potential imo. Japan might have performed better this match if Itakura were not suspended.
     
  9. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    @mushu21 Where were you mate? It has been long time since you've seen in this forum.

    I think @Saku² wi be mad at you because of what you said about Maeda!

    Both Watanabe and Matsumoto (#16 and #14) had a solid tournament in the central midfield, Sugioka (#5) also was impressive in the wingback position.
    Ominami (#19) and Okazaki (#3) done well in defence with the marginal playing time they were given.

    Iwasaki (#13) was good and better than his two striking partners Hatate (#9) and Maeda (#18) who both were horrible in their finishing, but still Iwasaki wasted many chances! He only scored more than the other two that is why he stood out.

    Tatsuta (#20) and Itakura (#4) did OK, but nothing spectacular or unexpected based on their club form and previous NT performances.

    Ueda (#15) has done great job as a super-sub, scoring the winner in two knockout stage games against Malaysia and UAE. He also played well as a super-sub against Portugal in the Toloun tournament earlier this year.

    Hatsuse (#6) along with Maeda (#18) were the biggest disappointments of the tournament.
    As for Kamiya (#17) he might not be the one to blame for his below-bar performances as he was played out of his regular position.

    In overall, it was a good tournament, with Moriyasu showing more stability in his formation and gameplan, and consistency in players selection to an extent. Previously, he kept changing and experimenting in every single game, with no stability nor consistency when it comes to formation, gameplan or players selection.
     
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  10. mushu21

    mushu21 Member

    May 18, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Thanks @Samurai Warrior, had a lot of work lately so I didn't have enough time to follow the Japanese nation teams, especially the younger groups.

    This year my national team happened to be in same tournaments with U21/U23 Japanese team for sometimes so I tried to check a few matches of them.
    But sadly from what I watched the quality from Japanese younger generation seems to be on the down trend. The team play is boring. On individual level, hardly anyone can make the fans feel excited.

    Or maybe Japanese football is trying a different approach. They appeared to play quite physical and concrete, make me feel strange after many years of having impression of technical Japanese players.

    I'm from Vietnam by the way.
     
  11. mushu21

    mushu21 Member

    May 18, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Agree.

    This kid has good movement, show real intelligent and awareness. The final touch is hit or miss, the style reminds me of Chicharito but that maybe the reason he is always used as subs.

    Really? I think the formation is always the same 3-4-3.
    But the wingers quality are too low, I don't know if he can continue with this.
     
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  12. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Historically, Japan usually do not lose against South Korea when they are viewed as the underdog.

    So...
     
  13. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Cause of South Korea's military rule I sort of hope they can win this as I don't want to see players like Son or Hwang having to take 1-2 years break from professional football.
     
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  14. Saku²

    Saku² Member+

    Aug 22, 2009
    Club:
    FC Salzburg
    I'd love for them to serve their country.
     
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  15. Whispered11

    Whispered11 Member+

    U.C. Sampdoria
    Japan
    Oct 4, 2011
    Munich, Germany
    Club:
    UC Sampdoria
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    So Japan could send Sonaldo to military?
    Wow.
     
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  16. seolseol

    seolseol Member+

    Apr 26, 2003
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Yeah there so much more to this game than just winning the gold!
     
  17. Yasukuni_God

    Yasukuni_God Red Card

    Jun 4, 2018
    No one in Japan cares about a mickey mouse tournament like Asian Games. The squad isn't even the best U-21 side as usual which includes college players. Only 4 J1 starters and of course no European based players yet they reached the final. Asian football is a joke.
     
  18. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Good try Mr. Troll.
     
  19. Yasukuni_God

    Yasukuni_God Red Card

    Jun 4, 2018
    #194 Yasukuni_God, Aug 30, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2018
    I'm not trolling.The games aren't on regular Japanese TV. No one cares about this competition. This squad is a weakened U21 team but they reached the final without J1 forwards (x1 J2 forward and x2 college forwards). Asian football sucks. These are facts unfortunately.
     
  20. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    You are not wrong about this not being a very important tournament in Japan, and it's being given very little exposure compared to for example a U-19/20/23 World Cup or Asian Cup. Heck, even the Women's U-20 World Cup got more exposure the last few weeks. Here in Chiba none of my Japanese football friends seems to have any interest in it.

    But there's no reason to talk down the tournament, other teams or Asian football in general because of that. Asian football does not suck, and certain leagues/teams have training facilities, infrastructure and stadiums that rivals ANYTHING you can come up with in for example Premier League.

    Recent results in for example Club World Cup and World Cup + the success of several Asian players in Europe also tells you that Asian football does not suck, so you don't need to be a Eurocentric snob. It's not "them vs us".

    And Asian football (especially SE Asia) are emerging and are taking giants step every year. Look at Thailand. It's not that long ago since Japanese teams won 11-0 and 8-0 vs Thai teams in ACL. And look at Buriram or Muang Thong United today. Or all the Thai players in the J.League. Chanathip is easily one of the top 5 AM's in the league, and linked to Leicester in the EPL, while Theeraton and Teerasil are doing really well for other good clubs like Kobe and Hiroshima. Vietnam is making progress too, and there's lots of positives to take from countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar (in a football sense) as well.

    I'm from Norway and I love Norwegian football, but due to having lived in several different countries the last 8-9 years + the time difference I don't get to see it as much as I want. So I also try to embrace the local football where I live, which for now happens to be Japan. I've also worked with Japanese football for almost a decade and have followed it closely for 15+ years, so my personal connection to J.League in particular is very strong.

    I still watch Bundesliga, EPL, CL etc of course, but if you truly like football it doesn't matter too much what level it is imho. A girls U-15 match can be 10x as exciting or entertaining than watching Man City vs Tottenham, and that's whats makes it a beautiful game.

    Whenever I meet these euro snobs (mainly locals but also the expats) here in Japan I try to tell them this, and hopefully it can result in a couple of them showing up for J.League or other local matches too. Cause nothing beats watching a game at a stadium. Or if you are unable to go, at least at a local pub in one of the team's cities.
     
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  21. Yasukuni_God

    Yasukuni_God Red Card

    Jun 4, 2018
    Please calm down. I'm not an Euro snob and watch J-League every week. But Asian football does suck. Other Asian countries should be ashamed when a country that has only 25-year football history has the most successful Asian team in the World Cup and Asian Cup.
     
  22. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    25-year football history? I presume you talk about South Korea and K.League?
    Pohang Steelers, the most successful side in ACL-history was founded 45 years ago, so the history of Korean football goes back a lot further than 25 years. And also, North Korea shocked the world at the 1966 WC.

    If you are a Cerezo Osaka fan would you dismiss the history of Yanmar Diesel, who were founded in the 50's, more than 60 years ago? Obviously when J.League was created and the teams officially turned pro a lot changed, but you wouldn't dismiss Liverpool's success prior to the founding of Premier League would you? ( I know it's not directly comparable, but English football before and after 1992/93 is like night and day)

    If history is all that we should go by we would all be Preston North End fans....

    Which J.league team do you support btw?
     
  23. Majster2

    Majster2 Member+

    Apr 23, 2010
    Poland
    Club:
    Urawa RD
    lol, there will be problems with live transmission of the final in Japan (yes, there will be a live from the women final).
     
  24. Yasukuni_God

    Yasukuni_God Red Card

    Jun 4, 2018
    Of course I meant Japanese football. The history of the pre-J-League era means nothing in Japan. Unlike today, football wasn't even the second most followed sport in Japan before the creation of the J-League. Football was even behind rugby in popularity in the 1980s.

    Who cares about the ACL, another mickey mouse competition. Most of the J-League teams field reserves, the attendance figures are poor compared to J-League games, the 2017 finals involving a J-League team (Urawa) weren't even aired on regular Japanese TV and the prize money is a joke. The J-League champions earn 20m USD and the ACL champions earn only 4m USD. The ACL is nothing but a burden to the J-League teams. I take 1 WC knockout stage appearance over 100 ACL titles any day.

    I know North Korea had a good campaign in 1966 but so what? Japan has a far better overall record than them.

    Sanfrecce Hiroshima. If we take pre-J-League era football seriously, Hiroshima is the most successful club in J-League because they has won the national title (Japan Soccer League and J-League) more than any other club. Sadly I've never seen anyone make such an argument in Japan. Kashima is widely regarded as the most successful J-League club.
     
  25. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Japan's women team won the gold medals.

    Good Omen! Let's hope the men will do the same.
     
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