As the saying goes, “The ball is round,” there are always upsets in soccer. However, not many people chose Japan as the sacrifice of the upheaval. Japan, once considered a strong contender, was hit by Iraq and plunged into the second place in the group. As a result, chances are high that the “Korea-Japan match,” which was expected to be only seen in the final, will take place in the round of 16. Team Indonesia, coached by Shin Tae-yong, has secured its first long-awaited win over its Southeast Asian rival Vietnam. Japan and Indonesia will have their final match on March 24 to secure the second place in the group, which will be given tickets to advance to the round of 16. Both Iraq and Iran have secured their tickets to the round of 16 by winning two consecutive games.
◆ Japan’s ‘humiliation’… 1-2 ‘shocked defeat’ under pressure from Iraq
The Education City Stadium in Al-Raiyan, Qatar, was an unexpected event. The enthusiasm of Iraqi fans was high even before the match, and the “Lions of Mesopotamia” finally broke the Samurai Japan and was thrilled.
The spectators with 44,667 seats were filled with enthusiasm from fans cheering for Iraq and Japan even before the game. Iraqi fans, who were judged to be inferior in objective performance, showed enthusiastic support as if they were trying to make up for their lack of performance in Iraq and weaken Japan’s performance.
Iraqi fans have realized their aspiration. The strongest team in Asia, which has the most wins (four times) at the Asian Cup and 17th in the FIFA rankings, collapsed to 1-2 after humiliatingly allowing two goals in the first half alone to Iraq, which was ranked 63rd in FIFA. The record for consecutive A matches, which had been brisk since June last year, also ended with 11 consecutive wins.
The “Lions of Mesopotamia” Iraqi team pushed Japan as soon as the kickoff whistle blew. Spanish coach Jesus Casas Garcia has penetrated Japan’s loophole by changing five of the 11 starters in the first match against Indonesia. Japan showed weak performance by goalkeeper Suzuki Zaion, who was considered an Achilles tendon, and weakness in right defense, especially in ball in the air, and gave two goals in a row to Iraq’s Aymen Hussein in the first half. Japan lost all four of its points in the tournament, failing to properly handle the ball in the air. Japan allowed three of its four points in the air to the header, and failed to properly handle the header ball, revealing once again its weaknesses vulnerable to ball in the air.
Coach Moriyasu Hajime of Japan played in the second match by vowing not to repeat his mistake of allowing the team to come from behind 1-2 in the first half even after scoring the first goal in the first match against Vietnam, but suffered his first loss (5 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss) to Iraq, which had never lost in the last six games. Japan lost face in ball possession rate of 72 percent to 28 percent and leading 15-8 percent in shooting due to unstable defense and poor performance of ace Takefusa Kubo.
Japan’s right fullback Yukinari Sugawara failed to properly block the breakthrough of Iraq’s left fullback Ahmed Yahia, giving two runs. Both Iraq’s first goal in the 5th minute of the first half and the additional goal in the extra time (45+4 minutes) in the first half stemmed from Japan’s right defensive hole, giving Hussein two goals in the header alone.
Lee Kang-in’s “best friend” Gubo was a substitute member in the match against Vietnam and then started in the match against Iraq, but failed to score an offensive point and was replaced by Doan Ritz in the 16th minute of the second half. Japan chased Endo Wataru’s comeback goal in the extra time of the second half (90+3 minutes), but failed to tie the game.
Japan’s unexpected defeat is likely to lead to the advancement of the highly anticipated “Korea-Japan match” between South Korea and Japan to the round of 16 instead of the final. If Japan ranks second in Group D and South Korea ranks first in Group E, it will play a tough match at 8:30 p.m. on the 31st at the round of 16 tournament (Altumama Stadium).
Japan has won 11 consecutive games since June last year, and is considered a strong favorite along with Korea, but has been on shaky ground since the first game, exposing defense instability. In the first match against Vietnam, Japan was leading the game with Minamino’s first goal in the 11th minute of the first half, but lost two points in a row and was dragged to 1-2. Since then, Japan has won 4-2 by adding three goals in a row, causing disappointment among Japanese fans.
Japan will play its final match against Indonesia, which won 1-0 against Vietnam, at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday to advance to the round of 16 teams. Japan and Indonesia, which both have one win and one loss, will have at least the second place in their group. Iraq, which has secured a berth to the round of 16 teams with two consecutive wins, will play its final match against Vietnam with two losses regardless of the outcome of the remaining matches. Iraq, which aims to regain its glory for the first time in 17 years after winning the Asian Cup in 2007, is expected to win over Vietnam and take the top spot in its group unless something unexpected happens.
In an interview ahead of the final match against Japan, coach Shin Tae-yong, who is leading the Indonesian national team, said, “I feel more comfortable playing against Japan than playing against Korea. Based on my experience in many matches between Korea and Japan as a national team player, I will cause another upset.”
South Korea, which aims to win the Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years, will play its second Group E match against Jordan at 8:30 p.m. on the 20th to determine whether it will advance to the round of 16.
◆ Coach Shin Tae-yong’s Indonesia and Vietnam defeated 1-0 in the Asian Cup for the first time in 17 years
The second round of Group D, held at 11:30 p.m. on the 19th at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, resulted in a tactical victory for coach Shin Tae-yong, who is leading the Indonesian national team. Indonesia, ranked 146th in FIFA rankings, defeated Vietnam (94th) 1-0 in the last 10 games with one win, six draws and three losses, adding to its victory in the Asian Cup for the first time in 14 years since 2007.
Indonesia kept the winning goal of Asnawi Mankualam’s penalty kick at 42 minutes in the first half to register three points. This gives Indonesia one win and one loss to advance to the round of 16 tournament. If the team ties or wins in the final match against Japan on Monday, it will be able to qualify for the round of 16, which will be given to the second place in its group, and even if it loses, the top four teams ranking third. Indonesia has the highest third place in points as of Tuesday morning, when all four groups finished their second Group D match. Vietnam had two losses.
Coach Shin Tae-yong lost 1-3 to Iraq in the first round of the tournament, but overcame an objective inferiority and won the second match against Vietnam. Vietnam was expected to suffer more as it was a team that was on the rise, including a 2-1 turnaround in the first half against Japan, which was considered a strong favorite for the tournament.
However, Vietnam’s offensive was blocked with a “clean sheet” by a 5-4-1 formation in which three mixed-race players were deployed as center backs. Indonesia, which has not won five matches against Vietnam since its 2-1 victory in December 2016, took the lead in the 42nd minute of the first half when striker Rafael Strawi won a penalty kick in the opponent’s penalty box. Asnaoui Mangkualam, Indonesia’s captain who played as a kicker and played in the K League, shook Vietnam’s net coolly, bringing about the victory.
Indonesia was 43%-57% inferior in ball possession, but led by 16-7 shooting and 5-3 shooting on goal to win by one goal 라바카지노주소.
Iran, considered a favorite to win the second Group C match against Hong Kong at Khalifa National Stadium in Alayan, Qatar, on the 20th (Korea time) with striker Mehdi Gayedi’s winning goal in the 24th minute of the first half. Gayedi received a forward pass from left-back Milad Mohammadi, who participated in the attack, entered the left side of the penalty box, and penetrated the right corner of the net with a shot that was accurately laid out.
Hong Kong coach Jon Andersen, who is ranked the lowest (150th) in FIFA’s rankings among the 24 countries participating in the tournament, failed to score a goal against Iran (21st), which is ranked 129th in FIFA’s rankings, but displayed good performance by allowing one run. Hong Kong lost the first match 1-3 to the United Arab Emirates led by head coach Paulo Bento, and lost the first match.
The tournament, which will feature a total of 24 countries, will have the top two teams in six groups and the top four teams in the third place advance to the round of 16 teams to determine the winner through a knock-down tournament. On Tuesday morning, “Hyunjeon, Qatar, Australia, Iran and Iraq” cruised to two consecutive wins to win a ticket to the round of 16.
