The real nuclear "war criminal-level" performance of the defensive line sent Japan out! Mori Boichi is in a worry-free position, but what about the right side?
On February 3, in the 1/4 finals of the 2023 Asian Cup, although the Japanese team was scored by Hidemasa Morita, it finally suffered a 1-2 reversal from the Iranian team and missed the top 4.
In the past few days, all the focus of the Japanese team has still been around Junya Ito, the main right winger accused of sexual assault, and finally after the twists and turns of leaving, staying, and leaving the team, the Japanese Football Association finally made the decision to let Ito leave early.
Although the players have expressed their desire to fight with Ito, if Ito stays in the team, the team's preparation and the focus of the outside world will not be limited to football. Therefore, the decision of the Japanese Football Association is also to allow the team to concentrate in the later games.
At the same time as Ito's departure, the former flag bearer Reio, who left the game against Bahrain injured in the last game, is also basically determined to be unable to play in the rest of this tournament, so the Japanese side predicts that the injured left winger Kaoru Mikasa must return to the starting lineup early, otherwise it will be very unfavorable for the Japanese team's attack. However, after the announcement of the starting lineup, Ito's original right route was expected to replace Ritsu Don, but the left winger was Celtic's Dairan Maeda.
In the end, the Japanese team was reversed by Iran with the first goal. Originally, the Japanese team's goal was to win the Asian Cup, but it was definitely unacceptable that they did not even make it to the semifinals. However, the ultimate goal of this Japanese team is to enter the top 8 of the 2026 World Cup, so Moriyasu is no longer in the handsome position, but his reputation will definitely be pulled back to reality from the "capable player" in the World Cup.
The focus of the Japanese team's participation in this Asian Cup has not been on tactical strategy, after all, there are too many things happening on and off the field, from the injury of the three-goal king to the fact that the young Suzuki Ayaki made consecutive mistakes by the outside world, and then to the really explosive Jun Ito who was also suspected of sexual assault and had to leave the team early, all of which are not conducive to the Japanese team. Until the end, the three-goal king failed to play a full game, and even the total playing time was only 45 minutes, which has to be said to be a big pity.
Of course, today's loss to Iran shows the toughness of the Iranian team from the beginning. Since the Japanese team received a yellow card in the 24th minute of the core of the defense, the defense line has always been targeted by the opponent, and the first two performances of the outstanding bear Seiya have also become the target of the opponent's key attack, and Itakura has finally been broken into the penalty area by the opponent many times, and finally rose to the top and hastily tackled to send points, ending its "war criminal" level performance.
In fact, Moriyasuichi's substitution was obviously a little late, and the first two substitutions were made in the 66th minute, but the three-goal king and Minamino had almost no outstanding performance after coming up; and the back line has been targeted, and Itakura's performance is very stretched, is it a timely change of the three central defenders who were used in the last game, or is it better to use the more tough Machida Hiroki? And after the game, Mori Hoichi did say that the loss was also related to his substitution mistakes. However, after the game, when asked whether Moriyasu would be removed because of the Asian Cup, Kozo Tajima, the current president of the Japanese Football Association, said that he had never considered this matter.
After the game, the Japanese team still formed a circle and was lectured by Mori Boichi, but what Moriya needs to really think about is if there is really no Junya Ito in the future, who else can be used on the right side? Without Ito's strong spurt, Mori's tactics would also need to be adjusted.
But then again, there's no need to be particularly frustrated, given that Japan are the ever-targeted opponent in the Asian Cup, even against Iran, with 60% possession. But in the World Cup or against a real super team, the Japanese team is at a disadvantage to fight others back, which is also the key breakthrough in this four-year preparation period determined by Mori Boichi. If this is resolved, there will still be drama in the World Cup, but the Asian Cup will be like this.
Contest Recap:
In the opening 1 minute, the Iranian team tackled and tripped Dairan Maeda and Kenei Kubo respectively with two vicious fouls, and in the 4th minute, Azmoun stepped on the feet of Kenhiro Tomiyasu during the midfielder's scramble, and 2 minutes later, he faced Hidemasa Morita after the ball, and put Shouda down, which was also destined to be the intensity of the game different.
In the 14th minute, Japan's attack shifted from the left to the right, Doan Ritsu stuffed the ball near the sideline, and Kuma Seiya cut in a cross, Ueda Kiyo grabbed the point without touching the ball and kicked it on the leg of the opponent's defender Harizad. In the 19th minute, Ritsu Doan, Dairan Maeda, Kiyo Ueda and Seiya Ikuma stole the ball in front of the penalty area, and Ritsu Doan's left-footed shot hit the opponent and bounced off the bottom line.
In the 24th minute, Kubo Kenei's attack was broken by the Iranian team's counterattack, Mohebi strode the ball through the midfielder, Itakura blocked the foul, and was shown the first yellow card of the game by Chinese referee Ma Ning. In the 28th minute, Japan broke the deadlock. In front of the penalty area diagonally on the left side of the midfield, Ueda Kiyo took the ball with his back and knocked horizontally, Morita followed the horizontal dribble and shot low, Iranian goalkeeper Beiranvand fell to the ground and blocked it with his legs, but the ball still bounced into the goal, and the Japanese team led 1-0.
The tempo of both sides slowed down considerably after the goal, with Japan having no definite chances, while Iran threatened with long balls, and in the 35th minute, Gudos received the ball and first grabbed the ball past Itakura, and then volleyed wide in front of the penalty area. After three minutes of stoppage time in the first half, Japan ended with a 1-0 lead. In terms of half-time statistics, Japan had 59% possession of the ball, but shot 4-6 behind, with both sides having one shot on target.
Just two minutes into the rematch, Ueda rode directly to the head of his opponent No. 8 Omid during the battle for the top, and Manin showed the second yellow card of the game to Ueda. In the 50th minute, Iran made a long pass from the left, and Azmoun squeezed away Itakura with his body and fired a low shot from a tight angle that was saved by Saiyan Suzuki. However, the referee then signalled that Azmoun was offside.
In the 51st minute, the Japanese team attacked on the left side, and Ito suddenly crossed at 45 degrees, and Ueda Kiyo flew high in the penalty area. Two minutes later, Dairan Maeda steals in front, Hidemasa Morita sends a through stopper, and Kenei Kubo smashes the ball in the penalty area and shoots wide with his right foot. In the 55th minute, Suzuki Ayaki drove the ball to the midfield, Azmoun received a pass from the midfield, and Mohebi inserted the ball into the penalty area to shoot low into the goal in front of Itakura, and Iran equalized 1-1.
In the 64th minute, the Iranian team cleared the ball at the back but became an assist, and Azmoun shook Itakura and Eixiong Seiya after the offside position, and scored with a low shot. However, the goal was ultimately ruled offside by VAR. In the 66th minute, Mori made a substitution, Kaoru Mikasa replaced Dairan Maeda, and Takumi Minamino replaced Kenei Kubo. However, just after the substitution was completed, Iran's Mohebi nodded the ball into the side-netting after receiving a cross from the right.
In the 72nd minute, the Iranian team attacked Gudos on the left side, Mohebi completed a cross on the left side, and Azmoun pressed Ito's header in the middle slightly wide. In the 75th minute, the Japanese team threw a throw-in from the left, Ito forced a cross, and Ueda Kiyo's header in the middle was deflected.
However, in the subsequent game, it was almost difficult for the Japanese team to play in the front court under the high-pressure situation of the Iranian team, and the substitutes Kaoru Mikasa and Takumi Minamino did not have any chance to perform, but Mohebi, Gudos, Azmoun and others took turns to threaten the Japanese team's goal with side crosses. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, the Iranian team shifted to the left side in a wide range, the Iranian team players went into the penalty area at the first point, Itakura rose to the top and caused Tomiyasu Kenhiro to stop the ball and make a mistake, Kanani entered the penalty area to grab the point and was tripped by Itakura, and Ma Ning awarded a penalty. Jahanbakhsh hit the penalty and Iran took a 2-1 lead.
Moriboichi then sent the last two strikers Takuma Asano and Shindai Hosoya on the field to replace Ritsu Doan and Hidemasa Morita, but it was too late, and the Japanese team failed to attack after kick-off, and finally the Japanese team suffered a 1-2 reversal after 10 minutes of stoppage time and missed the last four.