Looks like every single JFA coach can have someone walking next to him with a sign that says "I'm with stupid" at all times. Resting players should not even be a thing unless and until you are surefire qualified to the next round.
When you have a Mito who was awesome and scored 2 goals and a Fujio who was subbed in and scored 2 (a header and a clinical 1vs1 by the way) its impossible to bench those 2 unless they are sick, injured or already qualified. Hosoya with 0 shots till now in the whole tournament of course is starting in front of 2 goal machine Fujio.
Agreed. And Hosoya not to be seen as usual. I dont think he will ever be NT material. Hope some subs now .
You should take back your complaints of hand ball though. That’s 100% a penalty. Made himself bigger.
I would say it's pretty much impossibile we won't finish first, no worries. Next game hopefully the coach goes all-in with the reserves.
Next round opponent would possibly be another African team i.e. Egypt. I hope Oiwa learned a thing or two from tonights match.
Good game with chances on both sides. Mali with the bigger chances but Japan at the end also have good ones. The penalty was for me a perfect example of a non penalty. Sure it was "hand" but the player was tackling and its normal, that the hands are going up a little. But he was trying to swip up his arm to the body, try to avoid the ball or was trying to protect his face and all of that is a natural movement. The official rules are saying that a hand movement must be unnatural move to be a hand penalty and for me that was the perfect natural movement of the player. When you are tackling and falling you automatical switch up your arms in the air a little.
Many believe that the Japanese are the most polite people on Earth. But it turns out that Malians are even more polite, today they refrained from scoring against Japan, only hitting the woodwork; they even chose not to convert the penalty!
Only way for Japan to not get the top stop now is for Paraguay to win and Japan to lose with the necessary goal difference. As it stands now, Japan is +6 GD and Paraguay is -3. Draw will be enough for Japan to secure 1st place, Oiwa can use this opportunity to test more players now.
I think the criticism on him here is unfair, He participated in some goals in the first match and now participated in the goal against Mali. He even runned faster than the Africans, who are the fastest people in the world.
Dont think its unfair. I dont say, that he has no part in the first 2 wins of Japan. He got a assist against Paraguay but he barely get a shot or chance to score. And its not that he is a world beater when it comes to pass, dribble or assisting. My complain is when a other striker Fujio scored twice with a great header and a great 1vs1 who the hell you can start with the guy who has 0 goal shots till this point and 0 scored at the senior Asia Cup too + barely scored at all for Japan. I would say its okay to play with Hosoya but of course you could play with a better more effective striker.
Dont know what Spain did today but they fcked up. Played B team? And lost 2-1 to Egypt. So that means Japan will face them.
Not surprising, I guess they considered Japan to be the "easier" 2nd round opponent. Anyway, it's going to be an exciting match and I hope our boys play good.
Spain had a revamped team. At the same time, they had all the advantages of finishing 2nd, thinking that they would surely win against us and also avoid France in the semi-finals.