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The story
On September 24, 2026, Japan’s national soccer team beat Uruguay 3-1 in an international friendly at Q&A Stadium Miyagi, with Matsuki and Shiogai both scoring their first goals for the national team. Sports writer Tatsuhito Kaneko, however, argued in a column that for a country seriously aiming to win the World Cup, it was a “disappointing match.” On 5ch, the discussion focused less on whether that verdict was fair and more on Kaneko himself — his reputation as a “reverse jinx” (a commentator whose predictions tend to be wrong) and surprise at seeing his name again after so long dominated the thread more than the debate over the match itself.
[Soccer International Friendly: Japan 3-1 Uruguay (September 24, 2026, Q&A Stadium Miyagi)] We beat Uruguay, two-time World Cup champions and one of South America’s great old powers! And by 3-1, no less! Matsuki and Shiogai both scored their first goals for the national team! Wonderful!
But the only people entitled to celebrate that way are those who still think Japan’s only goal at the World Cup is reaching the knockout stage.
By the time the match passed the 90-minute mark, my honest impression was: disappointing match.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Genius.
I've even forgotten whether this was Kakitani or Usami.
And that was even after going down to 10 men on a red card.
People need to stop trashing the opponent just to score points against Japan.
'Uruguay is amazing!' — hyping up Japan that way makes people happier, huh.
Wait, did Osugi actually die?
That Kaneko guy especially just doesn't cut it.
Feels like something you just gotta shout once every 7 months or so ☺ (an old meme cry that resurfaces whenever his name comes up)
Someone please explain.
On top of getting slammed for his attitude in the Brazil match, he'd also been catching flak for going scoreless since then in the German second division — guess he just snapped.
Isn't that basically begging for the retort 'isn't digging that up literally your job as a journalist'?
He's a regular on Sun TV, you know. (a Kansai regional broadcaster)
Can't be bothered to read it.
It's a pointless column.
Nobody's seriously aiming for the top lol
Even ones who can't always win outright still need to be willing to take a man on.
Thinking only about using teammates just won't cut it.
That's such a minor topic confined to some narrow corner of the internet — the general public watching the national team match has no clue, it's just youthful foolishness.
Though Shiogai himself reportedly said that Ueda, who calmly scored the third goal without any theatrics, looked more composed and cooler, so he's probably self-aware about it.
Point being, scoring one goal in a friendly is no reason to put on a little solo drama.
Shiogai's still just a kid, after all.
Background and Key Points
Tatsuhito Kaneko is a veteran writer who has covered Japan’s national team for years, known for columns that hand down harsh verdicts even after a win — on 5ch he’s earned the nickname “reverse jinx,” mocking how often his predictions and assessments miss the mark. In this thread too, reactions focused less on rebutting the column’s actual claim (that the performance wasn’t up to World Cup-winning standard) and more on surprise at seeing his name again after so long, plus commentary on his track record. This kind of “pile-on-the-columnist” thread tends to turn into a referendum on the writer’s reputation rather than a technical assessment of the match, so readers shouldn’t mistake the thread’s energy for a verdict on the game itself. It’s also worth noting that opinions on just how strong Uruguay actually was are divided, and the thread alone doesn’t offer objective confirmation either way.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Tatsuhito Kaneko: If this is a country seriously aiming for the top of the world… a disappointing match“.
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