And 6-3 shots are speaking for Japan. But why the hell is Takaoka the top scorer on the bench ? To rest him?
Nice move to use Takaoka as a secret weapon in the second half, it paid off. Maybe the manager choose to turn off the light on the wonderkid to let his team mates shine of their own light as Japan prefer teamwork than any egoistic approach. It worked since someone else scored. But now Japan is out. Maybe fielding Takaoka in the first half would have get Japan the possibility to convert those 6 attempts in more than 1 goal and then counterattack in the 2nd half. But who cares. I hope some scout took notes and a European club will give the kid a chance. Meanwhile east Asia exit the competition. I hope Iran and Uzbekis will pass and take 2 slots in final8 for AFC.
There were a few puzzling points. Why did Nawata get so little time? In u17 AFC, he was the most dominant player. Perhaps his condition was poor? Some perspective after a disappointing match. Japan have won the AFC U17 two times in a row. Since 1985, no other country has done this. 2nd they were really dominant in that AFC U 17, they were on the front foot, scoring goals and playing very positive football. 3rd, they played against a Spanish team with a few players at Barcelona, one at Real Madrid, this is a very strong team. Outside of France, England Germany, Spain, Brazil and Argentina, Japan are dominant. That is #7. They are improving and there are a couple of very solid players on this team. Not yet in the top 6, but very close and moving up each year.
Never cared about the results of these youth tournaments. Just consider that nigeria, the team with the most u17 WCs to their name failed to qualify for last WC and may miss out on WC 2026...tying to lesotho and zimbabwe this week. Let's consider this tourney as a talent expo for the world. And hopefully, some of the u17 JNT players did enough across these matches to show themselves to European suitors.
If they can play more matches in the U-17 WC, they will have more chances of impressing scouts. Btw, the U-20 team crashed out of group stages few months ago. Not sure if it is a mentality issue or what, apart from 2021 Olympics, JNT regardless of the levels has been stuck in group stages/RO16. Let's see how the U-23 perform in next year Paris Games 2024 then
I know and feel your disapointment but its not that Round of 16 is bad. More or less that mean you are one of the best 16th teams in the world ( apart from the final ranking after the WC you are even higher).
Who will be Japan U23 top players in Paris? The same guys who failed in U20WC? The main star will be Matsuki? What about Nakai? Did he play some tournament with Japan jersey till now? This seems quite awful and there's no much time to improve.