In the 1 4 finals of the Qatar Asian Cup, the Iranian team defeated the Japanese team 2 1 to advance to the semifinals. The picture shows the Iranian team celebrating a goal, and Japanese player Hiroshi Endo (center) has a numb expression. Courtesy of Visual China.
The Iranian team missed the semi-finals with a 2 1 defeat in the 1 4 finals of this Asian Cup, ranking for Asia.
1. It was an "accident" for the Japanese team, which was bent on attacking the top eight or even the top four in the World Cup, as evidenced by the worried statement of head coach Hoichi Mori in his post-match press conference: "I am very sorry that our team gave our best for this game, but we were defeated by Iran and had to leave the Asian Cup at this stage, I will be responsible for this result." ”
On the ** bus leaving the Education City Stadium, the excitement of the Iranian reporters contrasted sharply with the silence of the Japanese reporters, although the reporters were friendly to each other, but compared with the 2019 Mori Hoichi led the Japanese team to eliminate the Iranian team in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates 3 0 to enter the final, the significance of the Iranian team's successful revenge is not only the continued progress of the Asian Cup, after all, the past 4 meetings with the Japanese team, the Iranian team has two draws and two losses in an absolute disadvantage.
Mohebi, who came on as a substitute for suspended striker Taremi, hit the back with an equaliser in the knockout round, and he credited the victory to the whole team after the game: "Taremi and I talked for half an hour before the game and he wanted to help me play my best. ”
Iran head coach Amir Galenoi called the victory a "turning point" for Iranian football. "It's not just a turning point for the national team, it's a turning point for the youth team, it's a turning point for Iranian football. Iran has a lot of great coaches, although they never had the opportunity to coach in Europe. We have long-term plans, including the construction of infrastructure and stadiums to support. "Boichi Mori is a friend of mine, they have a lot of good players playing in the top leagues in Europe, but we limit their midfield playmaking with a high intensity of pressing, which is the key to winning the game. ”
"High pressing" is easier said than done, and Iran have the ability to do so, and their pressing has allowed Japan to record the lowest number of shots on target in a single game since 2007: Japan had 16 shots on target in the first four games of this Asian Cup, but only two shots on target in this game.
Japan lost a total of two games in Doha: 1 2 to Iraq in the second round of the group stage, and 1 2 to Iran in the 1 4 finals. Having beaten Germany and Spain in the World Cup, only to lose by two of the same scorepoints to two West Asian opponents with similar technical and tactical styles in the Asian Cup, Japanese football has yet to look forward to an absolute superstar who can lead the team out of the bottleneck.
We played five games in the Asian Cup and conceded goals in every game, whether it was a set-piece or a positional battle, which is a bad phenomenon and if we always let the opposition score, then we can't win the game. "It's not just a problem with the defensive line, we also have problems with the attack. ”
After the host Qatar team narrowly defeated Uzbekistan on penalties, there are three games left in this Asian Cup, with Jordan vs South Korea and Iran vs Qatar in the two semi-finals.
Regardless of which team in the top four advances to the final, it is not difficult to draw conclusions based on the content of the 48 matches that have ended in this Asian Cup: in terms of actual combat ability, the gap between the top Asian teams and the world's top teams has shown signs of widening, but the gap between the third and second teams in Asia has narrowed rapidly, and the victory or defeat between the second team and the first team is determined by the coach's strategy and the player's on-the-spot performance.
The widening of the gap lies in the poor performance of the Japanese team and the South Korean team - the two top Asian teams aiming for the European level have not invested enough vigilance in the Asian arena, resulting in the team entering the form too slowly and the concentration of the players on the field is affected - the gap is narrowed by the Jordan team, the Tajikistan team, and the Uzbekistan team entered the top 8, replaced China, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates in the top 8 of the 2019 Asian Cup, and the four 1 4 finals were played in two games to extra time and one penalty shootout, In addition, 1 game was a whistle-blower, and the 2019 Asian Cup 4 games and 4 finals were all resolved within 90 minutes without suspense. And then to the longitudinal comparison of the top four teams, the last Asian Cup Iran, Japan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates entered the top four, and now Iran and Qatar are about to meet in the semifinals, and South Korea and Jordan will replace Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
As many as 6 Asian teams have been shortlisted for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Japan, South Korea, and Australia 3 teams have advanced to the round of 16 in the group, and the Saudi Arabian team that has not qualified has 2 1 to defeat the masterpiece of the Argentine team, and the Iranian team has also won 2 0 over the Welsh team5, the attribute of "accompanying the prince to study" will not change much - but even so, Chinese fans still hope that "entering the World Cup" can change the development trend of Chinese football.
The national football team, which left the Asian Cup early, is currently in the process of selecting a coach, and there is not much time left for the new coach and the new international players to run in. In the face of the ensuing World Cup qualifiers, the national football team can only complete the "change of coach" before considering the rest.
China Youth Daily, China Youth Network reporter Guo Jian.
*: China Youth Daily).