This is undoubtedly the most shocking news in this Qatar Asian Cup, the Asian Cup quarterfinals, Iran won a key penalty kick in the final referee stoppage time 90+6 minutes to defeat the Japanese team.
Japanese football has the strength to dominate Asia, but it has taken too high a view of itself and cut off the future, which is a good lesson for Japan, and when it faces the 2026 World Cup, as long as it adjusts properly, Japan is still a representative of Asia looking to challenge the world's best.
In the quarterfinals against Iran, at the critical moment of final stoppage time, the Japanese team made a fatal mistake in the backline, tripped Iran in the penalty area, was awarded a penalty, and was finally killed by Iran 1-2, and Iran successfully advanced to the semifinals of the Asian Cup, and also avenged the 0-3 loss to the Japanese team in the last Asian Cup.
In the second half of the war between Iran and Japan, it basically entered the offensive and defensive rhythm of the Iranian team, and most of the time it was in the Japanese half to snatch, although the Japanese team's players had good skills, but in front of the more confrontational Iranian team, the Japanese team still did not take much advantage.
In the end, it was understandable to lose to Iran. In the 28th minute of the first half, Japan's front field continued short passes, Morita Hidemasa dribbled, came to the middle of the penalty area and shot with his right foot to break the net, Japan opened the scoring and took the lead, but in the 55th minute of the second half, Japanese goalkeeper Suzuki Caiyan made a long pass to the midfield and was cut off, Iran quickly counterattacked with 3 passes to tear up the defense, Azmoun made a fatal pass, Mohebi successfully broke through Suzuki Caiyan's door in an offside position, and Iran equalized the score 1-1.
In the final stoppage time, a foul was committed by a mistake in the Japanese backline, which gave Iran a penalty, and finally Jahanbakhsh scored a penalty against Japan.
Successful revenge 2-1! And under the suspension of the main striker Taremi of the Iranian team because of the red card, the tenacious Iranian team reversed the lore, and the media almost unanimously commented after the game, in terms of confrontation, physical ability, and willpower, Iran is the first in Asia, and it is not even inferior to the South Koreans.
Basically, in today's Asian football, Japan and South Korea in East Asia, Iran and Saudi Arabia in West Asia, are all Asian frequent visitors to every World Cup, but in terms of results, Japan and South Korea are better. South Korea has reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, and has also beaten world champion Germany in both World Cups.
In the Qatar World Cup, Japan became a big dark horse, eliminating Germany in the group stage and Spain in the knockout round, becoming a real dark horse in the World Cup. It is precisely because of its outstanding performance in the World Cup that Japan began to dream of winning the World Cup.
Since you want to win the World Cup, at least it is enough to dominate the world in Asia. In this year's Asian Cup in Qatar, Japan was deflated in the group stage and lost 1-2 to Iraq; in the round of 16 to enter the quarterfinals, Japan dropped the chain again and defeated Bahrain 3-1 to successfully advance to the quarterfinals. However, in the quarterfinals, he was defeated by the toughness of Persian iron cavalry Iran.
It was also a historic victory for Iran, with a first win over Japan in the Asian Cup. The Iranian national team has shown unity and tenacity, both technically, tactically and mentally, and has been caught up in a tough battle with Japan. At the technical and tactical level, Iran is determined to play high against Japan, giving full play to its physical strength, and even being able to use this advantage on the ground, as evidenced by the first goal.
Interestingly, the Japanese team was defeated by Iran 1-2 this time and stopped in the quarterfinals, which is the third consecutive Asian Cup for the Japanese team to be eliminated by the West Asian powers. In the 2011 Asian Cup, Japan defeated Australia in the final to win the championship, but in the next three Asian Cups, Japan was held between them and the championship trophy by the West Asian powers. In the 2015 Asian Cup, Japan was eliminated by the United Arab Emirates in the quarterfinals on penalties, and in the 2019 Asian Cup, Japan lost to Qatar in the championship final and finished second.
There is an argument that Japan's defensive counter-attack is useful for playing Europe, but not for Asian offensive teams, especially against West Asian teams, because Japan's biggest weakness is that it does not have a high striker and cannot tear apart the opponent's defense. On the contrary, South Korea's style of play has been effective for most teams in Asia.
In this Asian Cup, the Japanese team's back line and goalkeeper Suzuki Ayakan have always given people an unstable impression, and the goal conceded in every game also illustrates the problem, whether facing a strong team or a weak team, the Japanese team is difficult to clean up the opponent, indicating that the back line is indeed the weakness of the current Japanese team.
The stats also show Japan's poor defence, with Japan conceding eight goals in this Asian Cup, setting a record for goals conceded in a single Asian Cup in team history. Previously, Japan had participated in the Asian Cup nine times, winning four times, and the most goals conceded in a single Asian Cup was in 2007, when Japan conceded seven goals and finished fourth. In the 2023 Asian Cup, the Japanese team conceded goals in every 5 games, conceding a total of 8 goals, including 4-2 against Vietnam, 1-2 against Iraq, 3-1 against Indonesia, 3-1 against Bahrain, and finally 1-2 to Iran, setting a new record for the number of goals conceded in a single Asian Cup in the history of the Japanese team.
After the semi-finals of the Asian Cup, after the host Qatar repelled Uzbekistan in a penalty shootout, look at Iran's fighting performance, and then the semi-finals against Qatar should be more victorious, because Iran has not won for many years, this may be another blood suppression, after shaking Japan, this time Persian iron horse Iran regained the confidence of the former Asian hegemon.