Well, that's it: FT 2-2. If one idiot in a yellow shirt did his job, Uruguay would have been left behind and out of sight ages ago. Otherwise, great effort by the boys.
Happy with both the performance and the result. I hope they keep up with this performance in the next match, and I won't be disappointed if they don't qualify to the 2nd round.
Fantastic game, what a performance by this young team, the future looks bright. With Kubo, Pipi, Abe, nakajima, and Myoshi coming through the next few years could be a new golden generation. Just find some good fullbacks as usual and we are good to go! I liked the right back today, he impressed me, very composed. Myoshi was excellent, love how he drove at defenders with confidence. So can Japan still qualify with a win over ecuador??
Only watched the second half, but my thoughts. Itakura had some good moves, but holy crap he is clumsy. No wonder he didnt get any game time at Groningen. Miyoshi surprised me. Should probably replace Doan for now. Sugioka was bad. All he did was clear the ball the whole game. Iwata looked pretty good. Kawashima is still good for the NT. Unfortunately he's also old. Okazaki did what Okazaki does. It always feels good seeing him pressuring defenders. Nakajima is on another level from all the other players. A couple of times he did some nice touches, but his teammates could not react.
Ueda and Kubo were clearly useless and it's not their fault. 2 wasted subs. Now there are 3 days of rest till Ecuador. I would like see Kubo and Miyoshi together. Nakajima played alone 90% of his match. What's wrong with this guy? He played like he had something to show but since he choose Qatar what's the point of that selfishness? Anyway the final result is right, they had a fake pk while we had not the one on Nakajima but they hit 2 times the crossbar too. I know, VAR can fix pks not crossbars but this is CONMENBOL and we are here with a bunch of kids so take what they let us and be proud of Samurai Blue tonight.
Miyoshi in midfield instead of a makeshift defensive winger makes the team much more balance. Nakajima, despite of some selfish moments, is the only player who can hold the ball and escape from pressing smoothly. When Itakura or Nakayama learns how to stop giving the ball away too easily, we will have a proper team. And Ueda for Abe is good, but how about Maeda for Okazaki or Madea for Abe instead? This lasts 15 minutes were perfect set up for his speed.
WTH with the title? We played not as good as Vs Chile, but got the result, football is strange sometimes. Very understandable approach though after what we've got against Chile. Itakura is good defensively, but offer nothing attack wise. Tomiyasu is not at his best this tournament. Nakajima looking frustrated at a lack of support of his mates, Would like to see a more proactive approach against Ecuador. Hoping for more Nakajima-Ueda-Kubo again next match. Oh, and well done Miyoshi.