In the top 8 of the Asian Cup, the championship favorite Japan was unexpectedly reversed by Iran 1:2, the most fatal was Itakura's series of mistakes in stoppage time, and the team was awarded a penalty, and Iran won the final goal. After the game, Itakura was fiercely criticized by the media, and coach Mori Hoichi did his best to defend it, but Itakura himself blamed himself.
Compared with Itakura's mistakes, the most puzzling thing is why Mori Hoichi delayed the formation and caused the team to change from winning to losing, and he also has an explanation.
Japan opened the scoring in the 28th minute, Iran equalized in the 55th minute, and Japan fought until the 67th minute to replace Hisashi Hisashi and Maeda Dairan with Mikasa and Takumi Minamino in one go. Japan did not make two more changes until eight minutes of stoppage time, and it was too late, as Iran reversed Japan 2-1 on a penalty in stoppage time to advance.
Itakura, who was selected for a drug test after the match and thus became the last player to arrive in the mixed interview area, was described by the media as very pale at the time, and he said with a serious expression: "I'm really sorry, a lot of fans cheered us on in Japan, there were a lot of fans in there to support me, I'm confident, but it's disappointing, I'm very sorry because I caused us to lose today." 」
"I got a yellow card early and then things started to go wrong and I put myself in danger. Looking back at the penalty, I couldn't see the opponent in the run. I didn't have enough vision and lost a penalty at an important moment," said Itakura, "If I can't overcome this situation, I shouldn't go back to Japan as a representative." 」
He pointed out that he has been trying to improve, but he doesn't think he is good enough, "From now on, I will fight and improve in every game, and even when I come back to Germany, I will continue to review these mistakes and make them better." The 27-year-old plays for Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchenchen and has played seven league games this season.
In fact, when Japan led 1:0 and Iran continued to attack with high-altitude attacks, the Japanese media described the team's collapse as only a matter of time, and questioned why Moriyasu did not change his formation because there were still two tall central defenders in the team, Machida Hiroki and Tsuyoshi Watanabe?
Mori explained, "When the opponent pressed on the wings, I thought about playing three centre-backs or changing the defence", but he didn't do it because "I want to try to keep the lineup as much as possible and then make as many changes as possible to the front lineup", he also thought that two days ago, Australia switched to play 5-4-1 when leading South Korea, but the result was unable to hold on to the victory, and the opponent reversed, "Australia played 5-4-1 and then shrunk too much...... Switching to a three-man doesn't mean they're better defensively and I want to make some changes in the formation. 」
"Our goal was to bring in Takumi Minamino and Smoke Mikasa to strengthen the impact, but we couldn't do anything with the opponent's counterattack...... I thought about changing the lineup, but because the opponent didn't make a substitution, I looked at the time, and at the same time I was thinking about overtime, how do I play? I looked at the way the opponent played, and decided to change the team according to how to beat them, and I decided not to change. As a result, Japan was reversed by Iran.
Speaking after the match, Mori said, "We came with the goal of winning the championship, and the players and staff worked 100 per cent to prepare for the game, but it didn't translate into victory. As a coach, I was very disappointed. 」
While taking the responsibility on his shoulders, he also pointed out that "the situation in Asia and the opponents are paying attention to us", and said that it was very difficult to play against Middle Eastern teams, he congratulated Iran and apologized to supporters, Japan has conceded in five matches in this tournament, he said: "If you don't keep not conceding goals, you can't win...... We couldn't deal with the pressure that the opposition put on the defence. 」