The match between the national football team and Saudi Arabia has not yet started, but the dust has settled on Group A of the round of 12. In the first Australian home match against Japan, the visiting Japanese team scored twice in 2 minutes with the substitute Kaoru Sanji to beat Australia 2-0, which was also the first time in 25 years that Japan had won against Australia on the road. After this campaign, the Japanese team locked the top two of the group in the first round and got the ticket to the Qatar World Cup, while the Kangaroo Army could only play the play-offs. This result makes Chinese fans can only shake their heads and smile bitterly.
Before the game, the Japanese team ranked second with 6 wins and 2 losses and 18 points, only 1 point ahead of Australia, if they lost this game, they will fall to the 3rd place, it is likely to play the play-offs, so both sides of this game have set up a winning posture. The only 11 starters in the Japanese team are defenders Yuto Nagatomo, Yamane and goalkeeper Shuichi Kwonda from the domestic J-League, while the remaining 9 all play in Europe. After the opening, the Japanese team took the initiative with their skillful foot skills, and in the 21st minute Takuma Asano's single knife was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, but the referee also signaled that he was offside. Four minutes later, Japanese right-back Yamane pushed the ball into his own door under the interference of his opponent, but the referee ruled that Sainsbury had fouled Shuichi Kwon tian first, and the goal was invalid, and the Japanese team escaped the disaster.
In the 32nd and 38th minutes, Liverpool striker Takumi Minamino's shots hit the crossbar twice, missing a great chance to score twice. In the 80th minute, Minamino also missed the opportunity to score with an empty goal. Unable to attack for a long time, Mori Hoshi replaced Takumi Minamino with Kaoru Mitsuru in the 84th minute, but unexpectedly received a miraculous effect. In the 88th minute, Yamane saw a cross from the right and Kaoru Mitsuru pushed a shot to break the deadlock! In the 4th minute of injury time, Kaoru stumbled into the box after taking the ball on the left side, Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan appeared in a butter hand, the ball rolled under him into the net, 0-2, Australia is gone.
This is the second time in his career for the Japanese national team at the 24-year-old, and the goal in this match is also his debut goal for the Japanese national team. Prior to this, in the match between Japan and Oman, he came off the bench to assist Jun Ito and scored the only goal of the game, and it was that victory that allowed Japan to surpass Australia to rise to the second place in the group, and from this point of view, Kaoru Mitsuru was a true blessing for the Japanese team. Two years ago, the Japan international was still competing in the Japan University League, worrying about his graduation thesis.
Born in 1997, Kaoru Mitsuru is 24 years old this year, showed good football talent as a teenager and was recruited by J League giants Kawasaki Striker at the age of 9, in the youth training echelon of Kawasaki Striker, Mitsuru Kaoru was not submerged, delicate technology and outstanding vision is impressive. However, in 2015, Kaoru Mitsuru made a surprising decision, he gave up the opportunity to enter the first team of Kawasaki Forwards, and chose to go to the University of Tsukuba, a prestigious national university in Japan. During his time at university, Kaoru Mitsuru did not leave football, not only playing in the university league for the school, but also winning the gold medal in the World University Games twice for the Japanese university team, in addition, he was also selected for the Japanese national youth team, playing in the Toulon Cup and the Asian Games. What is more worth mentioning is that according to Japanese media reports, the title of Kaoru Mitsuru's college graduation thesis was "Why Can I Pass People with a Dribble". Of course, Kaoru Mitsuru himself denied this claim, but he only said that he would not use such a title, and did not deny its contents. But his hard work and efforts during college are obvious to all.
In January 2019, Kaoru Mitsuru joined Kawasaki Forward, scoring 30 goals and providing 20 assists in 62 games, leading the team to the 2020 J-League and Emperor's Cup double titles, and lifting the Japanese Super Cup in 2021. In the summer of 2021, he was recruited by Premier League powerhouse Brighton for 3 million euros, and then loaned to St. Gilos, a promotion in the first division. On October 16, 2021, Saint-Giros successfully reached the top of the first division with a 4-1 home victory over Sai Lane, and Kaoru Sanji came off the bench in the 55th minute of the second half and scored a hat-trick, which was a four-seater.
In fact, there are as many as 15 Japanese players playing in Bijia, which is the second most foreign player in Bijia, after France with 35 players, and Kaoru Mitsuru is just one of them. Such a huge foreign legion is the strong foundation for the take-off of Japanese football. Of course, it is difficult for Chinese players to replicate the experience of learning hegemony like Sanzheng Kaoru, but going out to accept the influence of advanced football in Europe is the best way to revitalize Chinese football. Everyone understands this truth, but when it can be done, I really don't know. So now, we can only look at the envy of other people's children.