The myth of the Japanese team's winning streak came to an end, and a major weakness was exposed

Thirty years ago, in October 1993, the Japanese team was drawn in stoppage time by Iraq in Doha and missed the World Cup finals in the United States at the last minute. At that time, Mori Boichi, who was still the main midfielder, experienced a nightmare that was called the "Doha tragedy" by the Japanese football community. 30 years later, as a coach, Mori Boichi has become a witness to the reappearance of the "Doha tragedy" of the Japanese team: the "bitter master" Iraq, who is only worth 1/66 of the Japanese team and is ranked as many as 46 places behind the Japanese team (17th) in the world ranking, broke the first big upset of this Asian Cup, defeated the top favorite Japanese team 2-1 to win the championship, and made the Japanese team's record winning streak stay at 10 games, and the 25-game unbeaten record in the group stage of the Asian Cup came to an end.

For more than a year, the Japanese team, which has won consecutive victories against Europeans and Americans such as Germany, Spain, Turkey, and Peru, has been unparalleled for a while, and was once considered to have the strength of a world-class team. Japan, which sees itself as the only player in Asia, also sees winning the Asian Cup and reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 North American World Cup as natural goals. However, the repetition of the "Doha tragedy" after 30 years punctured the bubble of this "Japanese myth" and brought the Japanese team "floating" in the air back to the ground.

This is the first time since September 2021 that Japan has lost to a team ranked below 60 in the world. Japan (24th) lost 1-0 to Oman (79th) at the Suita Stadium on their home turf, losing to an opponent who was 55 places behind in the world rankings. In last year's Kirin Challenge Cup, Japan defeated El Salvador, which is also 55 places behind in the world rankings, 6-0, and officially began a 10-game winning streak. Unexpectedly, 7 months later, the Iraqi team let Mori Hoichi, who thought too highly of himself, relive the "Doha tragedy".

Japan lost in the group stage for the first time since the 1992 Asian Cup. After the game, Kozo Tajima, president of the Japanese Football Association, had to reluctantly admit: "I realized once again that no game in the Asian Cup is easy. The Japanese team's "Doha tragedy" reappeared after 30 years, which is directly related to the thinking of underestimating the enemy and the deployment of Mori Boichi personnel and the rigidity of the battle response. Despite conceding goals in Vietnam's first game with two fatal mistakes, 21-year-old American-Japanese goalkeeper Aya Suzuki continued to play, only to be passive when he made another low-level mistake that caused Japan to concede a goal in the opening game.

Although Keisuke Osako, who started many times last year, missed the Asian Cup due to injury, Mori gave up goalkeeper Daiya Maekawa, who won the J-League title with Vissel Kobe, and continued to trust Sayaki Suzuki, who was obviously lacking in confidence. In addition, Takumi Minamino, who is more suitable for the forward midfield position, was squeezed to the left side, and Kubo, who was thin and had just recovered from injury, could not compete with the tall Iraqi naturalized double back midfielder in the middle. Iraq's 1.89-meter-tall striker Ayman Hussein was in the penalty area, and at the same time formed an air superiority, which exposed the lack of air defense of the Japanese team's defense.

In the first game against Vietnam, Takumi Minamino, who was in the forward midfield position, played well with 2 shots and 1 pass, and it was difficult to play after being squeezed to the side by Kenei Kubo. The Japanese team, which was absent by Kaoru Mikasa, did not have the ability to break through the wings, and Takuma Asano, who was only 1.73 meters tall, was completely suppressed in front of Iraq's two central defenders over 1.88 meters. After falling behind 0-2 in the first half, Mori replaced Shogo Taniguchi with Kenhiro Tomiyasu after half the game, instead of immediately adjusting the forward line as he did against Vietnam. It wasn't until 60 minutes that he was replaced by Ritsu Kamido and Kiyo Ueda, who was 10 cm taller than Takuma Asano, but it was too late.

The Iraqi team once again became the "bitter master" of the Japanese team, relying on the 1.89-meter-tall high school striker Ayman Hussein to score twice. Iraq's greatest victory since the 2-1 win over Iran in the round of 12 in November 2019, when Iraq won at home to an opponent ranked 47 places higher in the world, and the victory was Iraq's first win over a team ranked in the top 20 since the creation of the world ranking system in December 1992, and Iraqi fans saw the victory as a great achievement comparable to the 2007 Asian Cup victory. This is Iraq's second consecutive group stage win after the 2019 Asian Cup, and it has qualified for one round ahead of schedule. In the 2015 Asian Cup, Iraq lost 0-1 to Japan in the second game of the group stage and failed to qualify in advance, and avenged it nine years later.

Before the game, Danilo Said, a mixed Iraqi and Chilean player who was only naturalized last year, withdrew from the game on the grounds that he was not in the squad for the first game, causing a storm of infighting. However, the Iraqi team was not affected, and the starting lineup was not worth much, but there were as many as five naturalized players. Among central defender Surrakka, right-back Hossein Ali, midfielder Amari (Sweden), defender Puteros (Denmark), and right winger Amin (Germany), only the 1.92-meter-tall central defender Surraka does not have the resume of the national youth team of the country where he was naturalized, and three of the five players who came on the bench are naturalized players. Six of the starting 11 players played overseas, and three of the five substitutes played overseas, and this Iraqi team is not weak.

This classic battle of style of play not only brought the Japanese team back to its original shape, but also made other Asian teams see the weakness that the Japanese team has always had: the lack of high school strikers and the lack of physical confrontation ability, and once the opponent's defense line is strong and reduces mistakes, it is difficult for the Japanese team's high possession rate to turn the advantage into a victory. This "Doha tragedy" has also completely faded the aura of Mori's 10-game winning streak, and if the problems of excessive conceit, rigidity and lack of adaptability cannot be solved, the Japanese team may still be planted on Asian teams in the future.