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The story
On October 1, Japan’s national team faced Ecuador in their opening match of the Kirin Cup. The game ended 0-0 after 90 minutes, triggering a penalty shootout under the tournament’s rules. Japan converted all five of their kicks, while Ecuador missed their third, giving Moriyasu’s Japan a 5-4 win. On 5ch’s live-discussion threads, many fans pushed for Seko and Tanaka Ao — standouts in defense and incisive vertical passing — to be named Man of the Match (MOM), while others pointed out Sano’s frequent passing errors and debated the tactical wisdom of the back-five formation, which they felt overburdens the wing-backs.
On October 1, the Japan national team led by manager Moriyasu Hajime took on Ecuador in the opening match of the Kirin Cup, held at Nissan Stadium (Yokohama International Stadium).
Japan made ten changes to their starting lineup from the Venezuela match three days earlier. Early on, Ecuador controlled possession, but Japan gradually found their rhythm and created a few chances, though they couldn’t break through the opposing defense, and the first half ended scoreless.
Japan dominated the second half, and Suzuki Yuito and Ito Junya both had clear scoring chances, but neither found the net. With the score still 0-0 after 90 minutes, the match went to a penalty shootout under this tournament’s rules. Japan converted all five of their kicks, while Ecuador’s third kicker missed, handing Moriyasu’s Japan a 5-4 victory.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Whenever Japan loses a shootout, it's because they're wrecked after 120 minutes of extra time.
It's really about the keeper's presence first.
Teams are strong when they've got a GK with that 'Nen ability' aura (like the power system from Hunter x Hunter).
When you've got a keeper who feels like he'll definitely save at least one, it actually makes it easier for your own kickers to strike with confidence.
Today it was only 90 minutes, and since it's a friendly with lots of substitutions allowed, the kicks had good precision and power.
I'd like to see how many a kicker who's completely gassed after 120 minutes could actually convert.
The old Seko used to look all jittery and unfocused — he was probably possessed by an alien back then.
But most of these guys play overseas, don't they?
That'd make sense for an under-age squad, but not this one.
⚽ Japan National Team Schedule 📺
Aichi Asian Games – Men's Soccer Final
10/3 (Sat) 19:30~
Japan vs South Korea
Toyota Stadium
📺 TBS network
Kirin Cup Final
10/5 (Mon) 19:30~
Japan vs New Zealand 🇳🇿
National Stadium
📺 TV Asahi network
Mizuho Bank Challenge
11/14 (Sat) 19:15~
Japan vs Brazil 🇧🇷
📺 TV Asahi network
Mizuho Bank Challenge
11/17 (Tue) 22:10~
Japan vs Paraguay 🇵🇾
📺 Nippon TV network
Thanks to two straight days of soccer broadcasts, TBS took the #1 ratings spot in its time slot.
Tanaka Ao was also looking incredible on both ends — his vertical passes were slicing through, his defense was solid, and his jumping ability is high.
That vertical pass from Tanaka Ao was insane.
Even the commentator couldn't help but shout.
https://x.com/98sep10/status/2105637314286477595
That finish was high-school-level stuff.
Guy's getting up there in years, maybe it's time to retire from the national team.
Man, I really wanted Suzuki Yuito to finish that one.
Seriously, the growth Tanaka Ao and Seko have shown is the big takeaway here.
Those two are my MOM picks.
MOM goes to Seko, and Seko alone.
He botched easy passes multiple times again today.
Tanaka Ao's misplaced passes were actually worse.
There's a spot on goal where penalties land with basically 100% success.
The only question is whether you're brave enough to go for it without fear of skying it — but Japanese players tend to be extremely scared of aiming for that spot,
so everyone just rolls it along the ground and gets saved.
Today's Maeda also looked like kind of a mishit, honestly.
Surprised that the top-center spot is the 100% one.
Is he actually good at penalties?
At the very least, Maeda and Soma have like 100x better shot accuracy than Mitoma, lol
Probably from all the recent rain.
Makes sense, they have to deal with Brazil and Argentina's aces on a regular basis.
Mitoma couldn't get past the South American defenders either, and Nakamura was pretty much bottled up in his pocket the whole game.
Soma, meanwhile, got completely toyed with.
Wan-Bissaka is a defender with specs just as high as any South American, but Mitoma held his own against him just fine.
The wing-backs are carrying way too much of a load.
But honestly, I like how stable the team feels now — it really shuts down the opponent's penetration into the box, and they're barely allowing any breakthroughs or crosses from the flanks either. The benefits feel worth the extra workload.
He doesn't even need to beat his man — just clipping it off the defender's foot to win a corner is fine.
That's one of the big jobs for a winger.
Cutting inside from the flank and shooting near-post is his preferred style, so for that kind of play you'd really have to ask Mitoma instead.
That's basically just telling Nakamura Keito to play like Mitoma.
The manager's an idiot for always sticking wing-backs in a 3-back system that demands a ridiculous amount of running.
For guys like Mitoma, Ito, and Nakamura, a winger spot in a 4-back system is their best fit.
How many of the opponent's crosses did Nakamura clear today, anyway? The only guy who can handle that kind of hard-running workload is Daizen.
Guess South Korea really is >>>>> Japan after all.
You can keep posting bait like that, but the gap's gotten so absurd it must feel pretty hollow by now — South Korea's done, just like we saw at the World Cup.
I was 100% sure they'd lose.
My bad, I take it back.
Soccer's simple: play the fundamentals right and you win.
In the end, it all comes down to winning those one-on-ones on the flanks and cutting the ball back from the byline.
That's what it hinges on.
Was there ever actually a time when Japan was 'at its strongest'? lol
They always lose their first knockout-round match without fail.
Best case, it's the round of 16, lol
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Although the Kirin Cup is a friendly tournament, this edition adopted a special rule triggering a penalty shootout if the score is level after 90 minutes — unlike most friendlies, which simply end in a draw — making this shootout itself a rare occurrence. Opinion in the thread split over whether Seko or Tanaka Ao deserved Man of the Match, with some prioritizing defensive stability and composure around the goalkeeper, and others favoring the impact of the incisive vertical passing. The complaints about Sano’s passing errors and the dissatisfaction with the back-five formation look less like a rejection of the tactics themselves and more an expression of fans’ expectations for how individual players are used. It’s also worth noting that the “first time in 15 years” figure mentioned in the thread title isn’t stated anywhere in the article itself, so readers should keep in mind that checking it against past shootout results is left up to them.
※This article is an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Hayabusa+) thread “[Soccer] ‘Senior national team wins a penalty shootout for the first time in 15 years’ — Japan beats Ecuador, fans thrilled by Moriyasu Japan’s shootout win [Zion’s reassuring presence is unreal] [Seko is MOM].”
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