South Korea's hard-to-win American rivals, Japan scored 10 goals
Reporter Han Bing reported 6-0 El Salvador, 4-1 Peru, this is Japan's best record in two warm-up games on a single international break, and it is also the record for the most goals and the most wins in two games in a single international break since the restructuring of the Kirin Cup in 1992.
The last time Japan scored the most goals in two games was in June 2016, with a combined of nine goals against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria, while the 6-0 number of goals scored by El Salvador, second only to Bulgaria 7-2 in June 2016, was also Japan's biggest victory against a CONCACAF team; Peru's 4-1 is second only to Chile's 4-0 in May 2009 and tied for the second best win against South American teams last year with 4-1 Paraguay. In 31 years, Japan has won two consecutive warm-up matches on a single international break, totaling 14 times, but this one was the most shocking.
After consecutive wins over El Salvador and Peru, Mori's Japanese team has further improved its winning percentage against American teams. Among them, the opponent has 5 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats, the opponent has an average world ranking of 27.4, and the opponent has 6 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats against the Central and North American team, and the opponent has an average world ranking of 51.5. After losing to Brazil and Colombia, and draws with Ecuador and Uruguay, Mori's recent winless run against South American teams has finally come to an end.
Peru's world ranking (21st) is only one place below Japan's, and Morihoichi has said after renewing his contract that he will constantly challenge the world's best teams. Before the international break in June, Morihoichi announced that he would reach the last eight of the 2026 World Cup and even compete for the title. The title race may be an exaggeration, but at least in June, successive victories over El Salvador and Peru gave Japanese football hope of reaching the last eight.
To be able to beat North and South American teams by consecutive large scores, players in Europe played a key role. Kaoru Mikasa, who played well in the Premier League last season, has started four consecutive games and has become the new attacking core. In the first game against El Salvador, he only played the first half with two assists, 4-1 against Peru just one hour after the pass was called MVP, and he is now the most expensive Japanese player, surging 12.8 times in just one year, from 2.5 million euros to 32 million! His performance once again proved the importance of traveling in Europe to the improvement of the Japanese team.
In Mori's 23-man squad, there are as many as 18 players in Europe, and 17 starters in two games, only substitute goalkeeper Keisuke Osho, right-back Tatsuya Morishita, and central defender Shogo Taniguchi are not players in Europe. The first two were the object of investigation against El Salvador, and Akira Taniguchi, who joined Qatar at the beginning of this year, is also considered to be in the ocean. Against the stronger Peru, Morihoichi's main squad is only Akigo Taniguchi who is not a player in Europe, and six substitutes are also in Europe. The 10 goals came from 10 players, and the 7 assists came from 5 players, except for Akira Taniguchi, who is a player based in Europe.
As early as a week ago, when the number was announced, Kaoru Mikasa, who wore No. 9 in March, was changed to No. 7, which was more in line with the tactical position, Tang Anru, who was absent from the squad in March, was changed from No. 24 to No. 10, and the new Kesu Super Golden Boot Furuhashi Hengwu was changed from No. 28 to No. 11, basically laying the main position; In the first game Salvador, Kubo Kenei, who scored 1 goal and 2 assists, became a weapon for both wings to fly together.
The only disappointment is that Hengwu Furuhashi, who scored 34 goals and five assists in 50 games for Celtics last season, scored against El Salvador in his first game as a substitute, but scored a full 90 minutes against Peru, and may still be at a disadvantage in the center competition.
The horizontal comparison of the warm-up match between Japan and South Korea is still one dimension ahead of Japan. In just one year, the gap between Japan and South Korea has rapidly widened - in June last year, South Korea lost 5-1 to Brazil, but went unbeaten in three of its four warm-up matches, while Japan won 2-2. In March this year, Japan and South Korea drew 1 and lost 1 against Uruguay and Colombia. This time Son Heung-min was injured, South Korea lost 0-1 to Peru, 1-1 by El Salvador, scored 10 goals in two games, and Japan, who won two big wins, were far behind. With the collective outbreak of the Japanese legion in Europe led by Kaoru Mikasa, Kenei Kubo, Hiroku Furuhashi, and Kiyo Ueda, the gap between Japan and South Korea in the future may further widen.