In the 9th round of the World Preliminary Round of 12 in Asia, the 24-year-old new international Sanji Xue came on as a substitute to complete the second time, helping Japan to win 2-0 over Australia, killing the opponent 4-1 on aggregate in two legs, and reaching the final round of the World Cup in Qatar with a wave of 6 consecutive wins.
After Takumi Minamino wasted opportunities, Japanese coach Hoshi Mori made an important substitution in the 84th minute, that is, to replace Tanaka Bi with the 24-year-old Sanji.
As a result, Sanji broke the deadlock in the 89th minute after coming on as a substitute and locked in a 2-0 win in the 94th minute.
Fans who usually pay attention to J-League matches should be familiar with the name Sanji. Two years ago, the 22-year-old had a double-double of 13 goals and 13 assists in a single season in the J-League, and last year he was signed by Brighton for 3 million euros and sent to the first division. In fact, he was first drafted into the Japanese national team in November last year, playing 45 minutes off the bench in the second leg's 1-0 win over Oman, without scoring or assisting. This round against Australia, only his second appearance for Japan, he scored his debut goal for the national team in only 5 minutes, and completed the first double of the national team in only 10 minutes. Mitsuru is likely to become a giant Japan international in the future.
Ranked No. 2 in Asia by FIFA, Japan lost two games in the first three rounds of the round of 12, losing 0-1 to Oman and Saudi Arabia, and only 3 points on the Chinese team.
Moriho, who originally thought that he was not far from the end of class, changed his life against the sky and led the Japanese team to erupt in a desperate situation. After a 0-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia, Japan have played a six-game winning streak in 163 days, and now they are pushing Australia to lock up the top two of the group in the first round and reach the finals of the 7th World Cup in a row. What is even more frightening is that Japan has kept all clean sheets in the last five rounds, and only 1 goal has been scored by Australia in this wave of 6 consecutive wins, with a total score of 10-1 in 6 games.