Doha –
Japanese national team still have to fight for tickets to the top 16 2023 Asian Cup face Indonesia. The Blue Samurai is already worried that they will meet South Korea in the fall phase.
A surprise occurred on the second matchday of Group D of the 2023 Asian Cup, Friday (19/1/2023). The Japanese national team as the favorite champion surrendered 1-2 in hand Irak.
Playing at Education City Stadium, Iraq took a 2-0 lead in the first half via Aymen Hussein’s brace. Japan was only able to reduce the deficit in second half injury time through Wataru Endo’s goal.
This result ensures that Iraq will emerge as winners of Group D with 2 wins. The Lions of Mesopotamia also locked a ticket to the top 16 2023 Asian Cup.
Japan slipped to second place and still had to fight for tickets on the last matchday. Nippon will clash with Indonesia who also collected 3 points after silencing Vietnam.
Whoever wins between Japan vs Indonesia will accompany Iraq to the last 16 with group runner-up status. The two countries lost head to head (H2H) to Iraq so they certainly won’t be able to overtake the team whatever the results in the final group match.
The certainty of being runner-up in Group D apparently makes Japan worried. It’s nothing, the opponent they will face will be the winner of Group E, the group containing them South Korea.
Son Heung-min cs is the favorite to win Group E even though he is currently still in second place. South Korea has only played once in the group which also includes Jordan, Bahrain and Malaysia.
Japanese Star, Takefusa Kubo, already thinking about facing South Korea in the group phase. This Real Sociedad player tried not to be distracted by that, and focused on the match against Indonesia.
“If we qualify for second place, our chances of facing South Korea suddenly become higher,” said Kubo after the match Japan vs Iraqreported by Japanese media Soccer Digest.
“If I think about playing against Korea like this, I will be distracted by the next match against Indonesia. Therefore I want to focus on the match against Indonesia first,” he continued.
“I don’t know what will happen in this tournament. First of all, we will give everything in the third match,” Kubo revealed.
(bay/pur)
2024-01-20 08:30:09
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