Japanese national team coach Hajime Moriyasu believes that the weakness of the back line is the reason why his team was eliminated from the Asian Cup. Japan always concedes in this event.
Japan was eliminated from the 2023 Asian Cup. This happened after the Blue Samurai lost dramatically to Iran 1 2 in the quarter-final match at Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Saturday (3 February) evening West Indonesia Time.
Japan took the lead through Hidemasa Morita’s goal in the 28th minute. However, in the second half, Iran was able to equalize the numbers through Sardar Azmoun. In the final minutes of the match, Team Melli secured victory from Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s penalty.
This defeat dashed Japan’s ambition to win the championship. In fact, the Land of the Rising Sun could be said to be the main seed in this event.
The reason is, Japan is the country in Asia with the highest FIFA ranking. Ritsu Doan et al are currently ranked 17th in the FIFA rankings.
Japan coach, Hajime Moriyasu, highlighted his team’s back line after being eliminated from the Asian Cup. The back line is indeed Japan’s weak point in this event.
Japan has always conceded in every match they have played in the 2023 Asian Cup. They have not been able to improve this against Iran.
The penalty that took Iran to the semifinals was also born from poor coordination at the Japanese back line. Ko Itakura and Takehiro Tomiyasu actually fought over the ball when anticipating a cross. The wild ball was picked up by Hossein Kanaanizadegan at the same time Itakura made a tackle which resulted in a foul.
“As you can see, we have to improve in many aspects. We played five games and conceded in every game. If we can’t keep a clean sheet, we can’t win,” said Moriyasu, quoted by the AFC website.
“Not only from set pieces but from open play, we really struggled. They pressed us and we couldn’t stop it. We conceded because of their attacking quality,” he explained.
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