Official U-22\23 Thread

Amazing display, hopefully after that italian clubs will try to get more japanese players. I also liked Ryusei Sato and Kyo Hosoi, they are really good.

 

Thanks for posting the video. Great game by the uni kids. The Japanese keeper, Uchiyama should get a lot of interest from his outstanding performance in this game. Overall, what a great chance for the university players to get European experience. Kudos to whomever organized this tour.

 

Ryusei Sato is really talented, remembered him winning a penalties shootout against Machida Zelvia in the Emperor's Cup last year or something. Hope he can attract some offers, good to have another option competing against Zion Suzuki because the other GK options at this point of time perhaps might have some gap behind.

 

Lack of goalscoring against better opponents still a problem

 

The draw for the AFC U-23 2026 Asian Cup:​

 

Qatar/UAE won't be easy, hope that some of the U-20 team playing now in Chile can potentially join for the above tournament.

They can build up more chemistry for the upcoming Paris 2028 Olympics where Japan is aiming for the Gold. The more games played together, the better.

Of course, factors such as playing time with clubs, etc. also need to be taken into consideration.

 

Won 5-0 in their opening match against Syria. Great start

 

Shuto Nagano has been a relegation this tournament, actually I feel FC Tokyo should call him up. So that he and Kanta Doi can form a defensive duo for the upcoming J1 season.

Kaito Tsuchiya performed well in the Qatar Match too, now it remains to be seen if he can reach Kota Takai and Ko Itakura (His Kawasaki seniors)'s level in future

But given his height, suspect he might move towards to Ayumu Seko route where he might serve as DM or a full-back since he is 181cm.

 

I hate to jinx this team but they really look like the strongest team in the tournament. They played their second team tonight and dominated Quatar. A lot of fine players on the field, of course R. Sato is playing at a different level. The center backs and the left and right backs are very strong. I have some real worries about Ogura at the 6. Of course, tireless, hounds the other players but makes really questionable fouls and made the two most dangerous passes of the game, one which should have led to a Quatari goal. Reminds of Henry Chase a few years back, super talent but decision making was poor. Let's hope we can take this tournament. Fun to imagine this team with Nakajima, Shiogai, and Goto

 

I find it interesting that Japan U23 Roster doesn't have a single player over 20 y.o. . This team can be used again for the next edition of the AFC U23 Asian cup two years from now, if they want haha

 

It is because this age bracket can qualify for the next Olympics in 2028. I wonder how many of these kids will make the Olympic team, surely Sato, and Ozeki and maybe a few others, but Kota Takai, Gaku Nawata, Goto, Shiogai, Kosugi will have a strong chance to make it. And then add the three overage players. Gonna be tough to make that team.

 

Won against Jordan in PKs . Rui Araki was the star of the shootout .
Onto the semifinals

 

I believe Takai won't be eligible as he is born in 2004, perhaps 1 of the 3 overaged players slot.

Not just the PKs, but he made a few important saves too. His positioning is good, but mobility is an issue. His long-ball distributions need some work to be done too, but he has potential to reach Zion Suzuki's level if he is able to pick the right club when he moved onto Europe.

I hope he don't make the same mistake as Kosei Tani, etc. did. It is ok to slowly wait for the right offer to come along, same as what Ichihara is doing now.

But of course straight away picking EPL/La Liga would be difficult as what we seen with Kota Takai where he did not get a chaance with Spurs for 6 months.

By the way, Jordan were actually the better team overall this i feel. They were threatening on the counters, and some of them were attempting to lob the ball over Rui Araki.

I Hope Shuto Nagano can get the nod over Okabe next game, he is more agile and push forward more too. Tariqkani Okabe is better at defending aerial threats and also at set pieces though.

 

Reading the comments in here you would not think they would almost stumble already in the QF, but lets see.

 

They played against a bunkering team and at a knock-out round at that, no wonder they struggled to score. The semis, hopefully, would be a different story because either potential opponents play more of an attacking style of football.

 

Jordan was actually quite threatening with their counterattack, when they moved forward with the ball.

The strikers were shooting all different angles from afar.

 

Won against SK 1-0 in the Semifinal.
Hopefully they will retain the title either against China or Vietnam.

 

Rei Umeki is really solid, can foresee him going to Europe soon. His small stature means that he can cover large amount of grounds, and is Agile enough to recover quickly after making tackles and interceptions, etc.

Made a very eye-catching interceptions against Korea, Rui Araki as sturdy as always.

Shuto Nagano and Kosei Ogura are really consistent too.

If Rion Ichihara is injured, can foresee Kaito Tsuchiya starting in place of him.

 

Shuto Nagano was an excellent call. He made some huge plays (one in particular with a deft sliding tackle at the top of the box) and also passes extremely well out of the back. I think Okabe is also effective in the back, great speed and power. He has the ability to not foul the opponent in the box yet kick the ball away cleanly. These kids are all 19 or 20, 2 years younger than most of the competition. Great pool of talent.

 

Sato makes it 3-0 from the penalty spot despite all the taunting from the Chinese goalkeeper (very audible words in English on live broadcast).

Ozeki (12') and Ogura (20') are the other goalscorers.

Things are looking very good at the moment.

edit: Ogura added another one in the 76th minute and it's now 4-0.