Beating Germany and Spain in a world cup. Unbelievable.
Maybe they are the dark horses after all.
Maybe they are the dark horses after all.
Japan national team thread
- Thread starter tentan
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This has 2002 South Korea vibes except they aren't even hosts
I fancy them beating Croatia.
Dark horses? Never. Unless they can channel that bs anime plot armour.
Was hoping to see Hiroki Ito this tournament as I think he’d be a smart, inexpensive back-up for Martinez. They’ve stuck with defensive veterans at the back though and been impressive.
It's truly a team's game for them.
Since that is a rare mentality, they have an advantage over many other national teams.
Since that is a rare mentality, they have an advantage over many other national teams.
Since Mitoma started playing for Brighton, I have suddenly had a lot more interest in Japan, he is a wonderful player.
I don’t think Japan are anything special. A well-drilled side capable of a few surprises, sure, but they rode their luck against Germany and stank the whole place up in their second game. But somewhat ironically the one game they fully deserved to win was last night -- and at 2-1 they could have scored another goal through a lovely counter.
They will lose to Croatia, you heard it here first. Always raise their game against the big nations but go back to being shite when they face the smaller ones. Pointless team.
They're lovely to watch
I agree with this. Most definitely not a pointless team, though. A pointless team won’t top a group that has Germany and Spain in it.
Did benefit significantly from Spain being unwilling to attack in the final 20 minutes. But they did the hard yards and put themselves in that position with the quick second half goals.
I mean what is the point of being so good in one game and then go back to being shite in the next game? If you're going to top a group that has Germany and Spain and even knocking out Germany, you better make sure you go all the way but this Japan team will inevitably lose to Croatia. This is why I always prefer all the big nations to progress as we can see high quality games between the big teams.
Usally, a team makes one upset at a tournament. But to beat 2 big teams makes them slight underdogs. From what I've seen I think they've as much a chance as Spain or England. And a less chance than Brazil, France, Argentina and Portugal. But what do I know? Hard to predict.
I have money on Japan winning the tournament, long shot I know but I always fancy an Asian team to do well.
Japan look organised, sharp, extremely fit and have some very talented players.
Japan look organised, sharp, extremely fit and have some very talented players.
Certainly better to play them then Spain cause I think players would again be afraid of Spain like in Euros although we can play against them without being overly defensive imo.
But it will be our undoing if we underestimate Japan, they're organized, defend superbly and are deadly in attack.
It will be very important if we can score early on to break up tension cause the longer its 0-0 or even 0-1 or so its worse.
We played them 2 times in WCs. In 1998 we beat them in a hard fought hame when Šuker scored the winner and in 2006 they held us to a 0-0 draw. Never an easy game this.
But it will be our undoing if we underestimate Japan, they're organized, defend superbly and are deadly in attack.
It will be very important if we can score early on to break up tension cause the longer its 0-0 or even 0-1 or so its worse.
We played them 2 times in WCs. In 1998 we beat them in a hard fought hame when Šuker scored the winner and in 2006 they held us to a 0-0 draw. Never an easy game this.
Delighted they progressed to the next round.
Hows Captain Tsubasa playing?
How the hell did they lose to Costa Rica ?!
Glad to see them through
Glad to see them through
Indeed. It is what I like from most Japanese national teams I have seen since I first took interest in them back in 2002.
Based on what I have seen from Japan after 2018, I think they changed their ways to defend better and to use a counterattacking game to great effect. However, the manager has often been accused of being reactive on top of choosing the wrong starters in so many matches. That could explain why Japan didn't look good against Costa Rica (who parked the bus all day) and yet knew how/when to exploit weaknesses against the likes of Germany and Spain. Croatia will be a physically demanding test for Japan, but the task is far from impossible as we have seen with the many chances that Croatia conceded (before Lukaku squandered all of them). I would be more afraid for Japan if they were set to play a high-pressure team like Morocco, who WILL make Spain sweat, instead.
Story to be continued. Going beyond the round of 16 is the next hurdle for Japan to overcome.
Freak result, in the same way some other far bigger teams have had freak results.
Well fecking done. They play nice footy an Japan is a country that's easy to get behind
Is Croatia a small team?
I have been a fan for quite a while.
Great technique, all work hard for each other and run till the end.....they remind me of us a little while back.
Great technique, all work hard for each other and run till the end.....they remind me of us a little while back.
Pointless? What a stupid thing to say. I have colleagues from Japan and they are chuffed this morning.
I hope so!
Haha yes, wondering that too.
Ye I think that is it - shades of Ole's United who had a strong big game record but struggled against bus parkers
Odd comment, are you basing this on three games? If so it's a very small sample size, also are the previous world cup finalists now described as a small team?
If you watch a lot of Japanese football then maybe you'd have a point, otherwise this a pointless post.
Japan aren't anything special and Croatia will most likely beat them, this I agree with you. I also think the love-in for them is a bit unwarranted. We see well-organised teams at major tournaments all the time and I feel they aren't any different. That said, your bolded statement here borders on arrogance: there is nothing inevitable with any team that manage to beat Germany and Spain in a World Cup regardless of luck.
You may have missed the memo but part of the romance of the World Cup is unfancied teams doing the borderline impossible. This has been part of the tournament for the longest time -- from the United States beating England way back before our time in 1950, the Miracle of Bern, Bulgaria v Germany in 1994, Croatia and South Korea in 1998 and 2002 respectively to Ghana almost reaching the semis in 2010. As much as the ultimate aim for any side is to go all the way, creating lore and backstory for future tournaments is just as important. If I want to watch high-quality sides pit out against each other in tactical chess games I'll stick to the Champions League knockout phase.
Japan never seem to have a player like Haaland, Salah, Mane or Son, but they are collectively very impressive. They have made it to the knockout stages in 3 out of the last 4 world cups if you include this one. There can't be much more than 10 nations who have achieved the same?
Overall I have Japan in my "good" bracket alongside teams like Denmark and Mexico.
Overall I have Japan in my "good" bracket alongside teams like Denmark and Mexico.
Morita is a nice midfielder from Sporting I hope Japan do well!
You talking about spain too right
This japan wont do a greece 2004 thats for sure
I would say they're used to teams coming at them and then using their speed to attack. Costa Rica had 1 shot on target on Sunday and sat in for the best part. I expect their game with Croatia to be a very tight, low scoring affair.
No doubt a 7 goal thriller now...
I always enjoy watching them and their fans seem great. I hope they get a good run and I'll keep watching their games with interest. Don't see them going all the way or anything, although it would be awesome.
Didn't they rotate players against Costa Rica, hence the dire performance?
Fair play to them, they seem to have fantastic spirit and attitude!
Im rooting for them simply because of the nature of Japanese people. Seeing the fans going around the stadium after each game and cleaning up all the rubbish is so wholesome and gives me hope in humanity.
Im rooting for them simply because of the nature of Japanese people. Seeing the fans going around the stadium after each game and cleaning up all the rubbish is so wholesome and gives me hope in humanity.
Mitoma may be a great backup for Rashford (Sancho is not as he lacks explosiveness and doesn't have that mentality to play when we are losing), though I don't think Brighton will let him go cheap
I doubt they would have done that when beating Costa Rica would have guaranteed qualification. There’s no way they’d rest players against Costa Rica in order to play them against Spain. Wouldn’t make sense.