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The story
On September 24, Japan’s national team announced their starting lineup for the Kirin Challenge Cup match against Uruguay (in Miyagi). Southampton’s Kuryu Matsuki starts at right wing-back, marking his first-ever senior national team debut. Playing a 3-4-2-1 system, brothers Kaishu Sano and Kota Sano form the double pivot, while Yuito Suzuki and Ritsu Doan take the shadow striker roles. On 5ch, discussion buzzed around confusion over the announced formation not matching pre-match reports of a “back four,” misunderstandings about Ko Itakura’s return to the squad, and debate over Matsuki’s best position.
On the 24th, Japan’s national team faces Uruguay in the Kirin Challenge Cup at Q&A Stadium Miyagi. Ahead of the 7:05 PM kickoff, the starting lineup was announced, with first-time call-up MF Kuryu Matsuki (Southampton) starting at right wing-back for his senior national team debut.
The formation is the same 3-4-2-1 that has served as Japan’s base system through the North/Central America World Cup, with Tomoki Hayakawa in goal. The back three, from left, lines up as DF Hiroki Ito, DF Ko Itakura, and DF Ayumu Seko. The double pivot pairs brothers MF Kaishu Sano and MF Kota Sano, with wing-backs MF Keito Nakamura on the left and Matsuki on the right. The shadow roles go to MF Yuito Suzuki on the left and MF Ritsu Doan on the right, with FW Daizen Maeda as the lone striker.
The registered squad totals 26 players. Of the 30 called up, GK Zion Suzuki, who remains on a separate training menu due to side pain, and DF Tomoya Ando, who did not travel to Miyagi due to lower back pain, along with FW Keisuke Goto and MF Ryunosuke Sato, were left out of the matchday squad.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Matsuki at right back
Maeda as lone striker
You even trying with this lineup?
Everybody's in vacation mode, both sides alike.
It's a four-match stretch, don't get so worked up about it.
⚽ Japan National Team Schedule
Live tonight — Kirin Cup
9/24 (Thu) 19:05 kickoff
Japan vs Uruguay 🇺🇾
Q&A Stadium Miyagi
📺 Fuji TV
Kirin Cup
9/28 (Mon) 19:25 kickoff
Japan vs Venezuela 🇻🇪
Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima
📺 Nippon TV
Kirin Cup
10/1 (Thu) 19:10 kickoff
Japan vs Ecuador 🇪🇨
Yokohama International Stadium
📺 TBS
Kirin Cup
10/5 (Mon) 19:30 kickoff
Japan vs Panama 🇵🇦 or New Zealand 🇳🇿
National Stadium (Tokyo)
📺 TV Asahi
https://dec.2chan.net/up2/src/fu7310443.jpeg
Japan National Team Squad
☆ First call-up
▽GK
Tomoki Hayakawa (Kashima)
Reo Brian Kokubo (Sint-Truiden)
Zion Suzuki (Aston Villa)
▽DF
Ko Itakura (Ajax → Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Go Watanabe (Feyenoord)
Takehiro Tomiyasu (Crystal Palace)
Tomoya Ando (St. Pauli)
Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich)
Ayumu Seko (Le Havre)
Junnosuke Suzuki (Copenhagen)
▽MF/FW
Junya Ito (Genk)
Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace)
Yuki Soma (Machida)
Daizen Maeda (Ipswich)
Kaina Tanimura (Yokohama F. Marinos) ☆
Ritsu Doan (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Ayase Ueda (Lille)
Ao Tanaka (Leeds)
Shuto Nakano (Hiroshima) ☆
Keito Nakamura (Lyon)
Kaishu Sano (Mainz)
Koki Kumasaka (Kashiwa)
Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)
Yuito Suzuki (Freiburg)
Satoshi Tanaka (Schalke)
Kuryu Matsuki (Southampton) ☆
Kota Sano (PSV)
Kento Shiogai (Wolfsburg)
Shunsuke Saito (Westerlo) ☆
Keisuke Goto (Freiburg)
Ryunosuke Sato (Valencia)
https://dec.2chan.net/up2/src/fu7310443.jpeg
That withdrawal was for the Asian Cup.
Well, Ueda's about the only forward getting regular starts these days — both Maeda and Goto have mostly been coming on as subs.
This is clearly a back three.
Poichi (Moriyasu's nickname) said he'd switch systems mid-match.
He's out with a rib or side injury.
There are guys who could get the nod on the right once it's 'Oiwa's Japan' (a hypothetical future squad under U-23 coach Oiwa).
Even if Matsuki gets called up now, who knows where he'll be playing six months from now — his best position is still a mystery.
Man stubbornly refuses to use this guy no matter what.
That's just the correct pecking order though.
With Zion injured, it'd be weirder NOT to use Hayakawa.
Looking at his actual track record, isn't there barely anything to call defensive midfield his 'natural' position either?
That's not sad at all.
He's smart enough to find good positioning wherever you put him — from a coach's perspective, 'just throw him in there' makes him the perfect player.
Go enjoy the table tennis instead.
Feeling sorry about ratings at a time like this is way too much lol
He's conceding a ton of goals.
He's been getting torched.
Conceding multiple goals almost every match.
He needs to get knocked down once and build some hunger.
There's probably no footballer whose career has been nothing BUT getting knocked down more than Kubo's…
Go watch the table tennis instead, that's a real world championship decider.
I'm recording the table tennis to watch later, so please don't post live commentary about it here, 'kay?
Bet it's eating into the ratings pretty hard.
I'm watching the recording later, so no live commentary here please, 'kay?
Surely it's not the other way around, right?
It's the rookie's big moment, so let him play his favored position and enjoy it.
Given their club roles, it could well be the other way around.
The squad's average looks have shot up recently.
Background and Talking Points
The Kirin Challenge Cup packed four matches into the September 24–October 5 window, a congested schedule that explains the heavy rotation among regulars — the “vacation mode” jab in the thread is a reference to this four-match stretch. The confusion over the formation looking like a “back four” versus the announced 3-4-2-1 stems from manager Hajime Moriyasu’s use of an in-game variable system, a point commenters picked up on themselves. Kuryu Matsuki played primarily as a defensive midfielder at Tokyo Verdy in Japan’s J1 league, but since moving overseas he’s often been deployed in more advanced positions — which is the background behind his right wing-back role for the national team too, and why the “natural position” debate ties directly back to how his clubs have used him. Note also that the idea Itakura “withdrew” is a mix-up with the Asian Cup, not this call-up. And the criticism of Hayakawa’s save numbers is based on a short stretch of club form, a separate question from whether his national team call-up is justified.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “[Soccer] Japan National Team: Kuryu Matsuki Starts for Senior Debut!! Uruguay Match Starting XI Announced, Yuito Suzuki and Kota Sano Also Selected [Fuji TV].”
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