Were the two goals offside? I have a bunch of salty arabs saying so. I saw some replays of the goals but sadly they were not helpful enough.
I see. For the second goal, there was a Japanese player standing near the net when Yamaguchi kicked the ball. Was he onside?!
Sad to see. They won 3-2. Both are struggling. I may exagerate but right now it feels like a bonus if they reach the WC. They can fck it all up.
He was in an offside position, but did not make a play on the ball and was too far from any Iraqi player to be considered involved in the play.
Arabs? they're not looking to their own shoulder, aren't they? What did they expect? referee bailing them out anytime anyday? Maybe the first was an offside, but it could be a difficult call when the linesman are not in the same line, if they don't buy this, they should be acknowledged Asano's shot the other day. Not sure about the second, even if it was an offside, it was a passive off, as none of the player in an active position. But if it was an Iraqi who are being salty, i can understand, as they also being robbed at the previous matches so, psychologically, it should be very hard for them, being a series victim of bad refereeing.
Thanks for the explanation. I wish the referees in Pro Evolution Soccer game would apply the same thing for such situations. I scored goals similar to the situation above but always got offside calls
Yeh they usually don't give offside in those situations unless the player is directly in front of the keeper. For the first goal though you can tell from the lines on the pitch that Kiyotake is offside when he receives the ball from Honda. Honda tried to overdo it and took forever to make the pass. The linesman probably thought these two guys couldn't possibly play each other offside when they are right next to each other and so didn't even realize it I guess. In the end though Iraq despite needing the points was doing some terrible time-wasting, so it was funny to see them complain when the ref blew the whistle on Sakai's botched clearance.
That was nearly unwatchable and I sure hope Vahid is not gonna think he can build on that victory because he needs to retired half the team. That said, happy for Yamaguchi who's been good the last few times he played. The substitution made sense, you don't necessarily score by stacking up strikers.
Yeah, he certainly counted for a goal or assist from him. He does it all the time in J2. It was a fluke. Nothing more, nothing less. You can prise his 6th sense for that but not anything else.
Tbh I have seen Japan in better state than this. Congrats for the win, but the first goal was offside and the second wasn't a foul. Hopefully Japan and Australia make it to the WC
Who said he was looking for a goal ? Kashiwagi was roasted, Yamaguchi came in to win back the ball and he happened to score on top of that.
Second goal was karma for all the play acting during additional time, I don't feel to bad about this one. The first one is outrageous indeed.
Unfortunately now Genki Haraguchi is the best player on the team. And even he had some mind-boggling mistakes. Kiyotake seemed OK too and much more of a presence in the proper position. The other guys are way out of form though.
True. But look at the current situation and it makes sense. None of the following players are regular starters atm : Honda Kagawa Okazaki Kiyotake Yoshida Usami Nagatomo And you can also add Inui to that list. Comparing to last season this is very dire, as these players should be the backbone and carriers of the team.
It's rather odd to see a full stable of competent strikers in the Japan pool while the cupboard is close to bare of midfielders. I mean, I'd be fine with Vahid running out any combination of Okazaki, Asano, Muto, Osako, and Kobayashi and have a general sense that they wouldn't crap all over themselves. Meanwhile, in the middle of the park you have an excellent Kiyotake, the out-of-shape Honda, out-of-form Kagawa, aging Hasebe, still-green Oshima...
Come on, after 4 matches? Its not like Heerenveen is a major step up from J.League, and I dare say the top 5 teams in Japan are all better teams than them. They are doing well this season, but it's only been 8 matches... They finished 12th last year, which is probably closer to where they will finish this season too... He wasn't exactly setting the world alight when he was in J.League either was he? Although he earned his first cap earlier this season.
From his highlights against PSV (Which is the only game I admit that I've watched of him in Eredivisie) he looked pretty good, especially his defensive work rate was noticeable. I'd take him over a player sitting on the bench week in week out, Honda was in the league below when he first stepped up for the JNT.