Not a losing mentality. We're growing at an unbelievable pace but we're not there yet. We've got to come close before we win.
Am I crazy for thinking Sugimoto could be an option for Zacc JNT striker in the future? I was pleasantly surprised by his skill and plays.
you're setting artificial hurdles. They came close as you say but it was absolutely possible to win this game and get that medal.
Yes. Honestly he had no business being here. He didn't do bad but Sekizuka killed himself selecting him because there was no legitimate striker coming from the bench. sc-f > can't agree more.
I don't disagree. Hopefully they will learn from it. There are many times in the past where we should have done better and didn't. You can argue the same this time but we did not lose the first round of knock out as always. We will get there.
Yeah, there were times though when I thought maybe Sekizuka knew what he was doing by selecting Sugimoto but they never manifested in concrete results. I do think Sugimoto played beyond what people were expecting from him and because of that, his age and size, I think he could be an option for Zac's preferred striker type in the future
Until then lets hide in the safe 'Spain mode' of plying beutifully like never and losing like everytime, right? They lost the medal because they didn't really care about it. Whatever.
Oh, I'm reading that Gonda attacked Otsu after the game That would be something if tru (but probably isn't).
Except we didnt play beautifully this tournament or in the World Cup and we didn't lose like every time. Please do not tell me that a Japanese professional player who has only one chance to play in the Olympics didn't care about medaling. It just wasn't enough.
They lost the medal because of two goals that went against the run of play, similar to Mexico's goal in the semifinals. Japan had the momentum in both games, the other teams caught the defense sleeping and produced tremendous strikes. We can't say those things happened because they didn't care, they were simply errors and bad luck. Maybe you could say they didn't care after those demoralizing goals and I would probably agree. There was not much of an effective fight after they went down two goals but that wasn't helped by the organized Korean defense. I was very impressed by Yun Suk Young I think his name was.
Well I definitely wouldn't. We beat Morocco and Egypt and drew with Honduras. Well that's the minimum I expected. As I said previously, not getting through the group stage would have been a disaster, an embarassment, way more than the 2008 campaign. The technical level of our players is really really good. We came here to medal, even if the coach is an incompetent. We beat Spain, which is cool and all, even if it's a little less exciting knowing they didn't even score a goal in the tournament at all. But who cares, they're still experienced players and we beat them and I'm proud of it. We then lost when it mattered the most and against team that we could've probably beat too. If we lost against Brazil I would've said nothing. But we lost hard too, and everything reminded me of when we lost in goddamn Syria, or drew at home with New Zealand. Getting out taking embarassing goals and being unable to respond. Well, I take this 4th place for his goods, since at least some scouts saw our players, I guess. But to get out of the tournament this way, well that doesn't make me happy at all. Someone previously said that this was going to be another WC2010. Well, in some way it has been at the end. Except that our tactics got exposed and embarassed at the end, this time. I'm SOO glad that our main NT is coached by Zac. Even if we lost at home to Uzbekistan, I know he got mad, and I know we'll still play quality football.... not stupid defensive tactics
no way anyone can take that Spain win away from you guys. many teams would've folded psychologically including us. That team was a heavy favorite to medal. I think too many people don't give a team credit to make it this far in a tournament. The physical wear down is just as significant as the psychological strength it takes to get that far.
You guys do have the edge but the 3-0 was a fluke. The manager was a fcking moron. He put Koo ja cheol as a wingers and put two kleague FLOPS in central midfield. And gave a start to a CB with 0 caps. Worst tactical decisions I've ever seen. While you guys may win smash is NOT the right word...
Oh god no... I mean yes, we (Kashima) have a terrible one atm but Sekizuka, dont make me cry Also Gamba - from Nishino to Sekizuka
It's not the main argument, but I do hope you're Japanese when you refer to the JNT as "our senior side". Other than that, I wouldn't rely on a friendly result to that extend if I were you. Especially when the coach got fired few months later for sloppy tactics and horrendous results. I leave the maths to you.
Well, I never referred to the KNT as "our senior side" as far as I'm concerned. I also don't wear other nations NT jerseys like they were some kind of Hawaiian shirts.