The World Cup in Qatar ended the second round of the contest. No team in Asian football has qualified for the group. Compared to the first round, the records of the six teams have regressed slightly. The first round of six teams was 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats, while in the second round it was 2 wins and 4 losses. With the winning team, it is still unknown who can represent Asian football in the round of 16. Everyone in the Asian Five now has a chance to qualify, but none of them are sure.
# Morihoichi draws the gourd as it is #
Japan head coach Hoichi Mori
Of the six teams, Japan is probably the most favored to qualify from the group. In the first game against Germany, coach Morihoichi played two sets of line-ups in the first and second halves, and achieved very good results. As we said before, a match of the nature of the World Cup, even if you are well prepared, it is difficult to be foolproof, and you need to adjust the lineup according to the actual combat effect. But Morihoichi didn't think so. After scoring three points in the first game, he didn't give the offensive group more chances and still wanted to continue to draw the gourd.
Comparing the starters of the two matches, he replaced Dairan Maeda, Junya Ito, Hiroki Sakai and Hidei Kugi with Kiyo Ueda, Ritsuki Do, Hisakane, and Yuki Soma. Among them, Yamane saw the injured Hiroki Sakai as a replacement, and Ritsu Don also scored in the first game. But the other options are somewhat puzzling. It's not that you can't change it that way, but Mori's bench clearly has a better candidate than the starter.
Costa Rican player Fuller breaks through the door of Japan
We can guess that after winning Germany in the first "first half and attack in the second half", Moriho knew the essence and fell in love with such a deployment. The players in the starting group are used to consume the opponent, and in the second half they are substituted, and then use their physical advantage to beat the opponent in one fell swoop. But the way to use the army is to judge the hour and size up the situation! Against an opponent like Germany, you'll have to think about using surprise soldiers and pray for luck (and it's really favorable, otherwise half time will be spent). But against Costa Rica, which is not as strong as you, does not speed up the whole game, but grinds and looks ahead, it can only be said that the manager's lack of courage imprisons the team.
Japan's final opponent in the group stage is Spain, and I personally don't like them to qualify. In terms of technical and tactical style, the Japanese team encountered a team that was more delicate and able to pass control than itself. Secondly, Japan has never beaten a team in the group stage in history. Lost 1-0 to Argentina in '98; In 02, he was the first to qualify from the host group; Lost 1-4 to Brazil in '06; lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in 10 years; lost 1-4 to Colombia in '14; Lost 1-0 to Poland in 18. And there is a strange pattern in Japanese football, the World Cup record is a jagged arrangement, and after the round of 16, the group elimination. Last time, they beat Senegal and Poland to finish second in their group in Russia. This rule Morihoichi definitely doesn't want to hear.
# The Korean team is also difficult to break the curse #
Sun Xingmin
Speaking of rules, the South Korean team also has a "second rule in the group stage". South Korea had a record of 4 draws and 6 defeats in the second round of the World Cup group stage, with no wins. As a result, the Korean team was still unable to break the spell this time. The team played tenacious enough, but the back line was inattentive and repeatedly made low-level mistakes of watching the ball without looking at people,
On the other hand, South Korea's forward line also disappointed. In this game against Garner, there were 21 shots on goal and only 6 on target. Several of the team's European strikers, Son Heung-min, Huang Hee-chan and Huang Yi-suke, are either in poor condition or injured. "Asia's first brother" Son Heung-min completely lost his demeanor at Tottenham, and his ability was blocked by his mask. Hwang Eui-suke's words, if the form is better, the South Korean team can win against Uruguay, and in the end, Cho Kyu-seung, who plays in Jeonbuk in the K League, snatched the starter.
This adjustment by South Korean head coach Bento is still very effective. But the other decision is too conservative. South Korea's 21-year-old midfielder Lee Gang-in has not been taken seriously by Bento. Although they were named in the squad, both matches were only given their chances in the second half. But he did make a difference on the pitch and immediately provided an assist to Cao Guicheng.
South Korea faced Portugal in the final round and looked to have a lower chance of qualifying than Japan. Although theoretically, South Korea beat Portugal with 4 points, and can watch Ghana with 3 points and Uruguay fight to the death. But in fact, Portugal also need to make sure they finish first in the group, and they are in good form this year. How to resist with the defense of the Korean team?
In the top six in Asia, except for Qatar, which has been eliminated, the other five teams still have the possibility of qualifying, but everyone has hope, and each is not sure. It can only be said that on the highest level of the World Cup, the strength of Asian teams is still a little bit interesting, far from the point where mistakes can be made and can be made up. The third round is coming, good luck to our neighbors!