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The story
In the October 5 Kirin Cup final, Japan’s national team beat New Zealand 2-1. In the 85th minute, substitute forward Kento Shioi (Wolfsburg) won the ball in a counterattacking situation, drove forward on the dribble himself, and tried to take on a defender instead of passing to Keito Nakamura, who was making an unmarked run — only to lose the ball. On 5ch’s Geisupo Sokuho+ (entertainment/sports news) board, criticism piled up (“He did the exact same thing last match,” “He’s got tunnel vision”), while other posters defended him (“He’s still only 21, plenty of room to grow,” “He scored against Uruguay thanks to Ueda”), and a fair number of posts also questioned manager Hajime Moriyasu’s decision to keep using him at all.
[Oct. 5 Kirin Cup Final: Japan 2-1 New Zealand, National Stadium]
It was a prime counterattacking chance. In the 85th minute, as New Zealand launched a long throw-in and tried to link up the second ball, substitute Japan forward Kento Shioi (Wolfsburg) cut it out. He drove forward on the dribble, crossed the halfway line, and carried the ball all the way up near the opponent’s penalty area.
Midfielder Keito Nakamura had made an unmarked run up the left side, but Shioi never released the pass and was dispossessed. Japan pressed again and Nakamura picked up the loose ball, sparking a second wave of attack — but it was the kind of counter where a pass to Nakamura very likely would have produced a clear scoring chance.
Source: web.gekisaka.jp / Original article here
What people said
Pisses me off just watching, get outta here
Honestly that's sad enough to make me tear up
"Something to work on," sure — but is anyone besides Moriyasu still expecting anything from that guy?
He should get some mental training
Is he not doing any?
Go apologize to Kei-chan (Nakamura Keito)
But still, Japan is absolutely going to need Shioi!
Moriyasu's just being stubborn about it because he already pegged him as a promising player
Go earn a starting spot at your club first
Guess everyone's just being mature about it
In the previous match he had a golden chance and inexplicably passed backward
That goal only happened because Ueda (I think it was him?) handled it well for him
I feel zero potential in "Shio-gai" (a pun on his name meaning roughly "salt damage")
He genuinely can't see it
That's not national-team level
he's really got tunnel vision
Watched the highlights and Kubo botched a few too, honestly
Guess everyone just wanted to score
"Move, move, I'm the one scoring this"
Hey hey hey hey! (`o´)
Moriyasu just seems stubborn about it at this point
If you're not even going to use him in a match where the result doesn't matter either way
you shouldn't have called him up in the first place
Scored the winner against Uruguay
Shioi's getting results in limited minutes
Also he's the most popular Japanese player among Brazilians lol
About that goal against Uruguay —
Shioi had a golden chance and passed backward, and it only became a goal because Ueda instantly played it back to him
Even the commentator was saying he should go thank the guy who returned that pass so fast
Shioi definitely owes Ueda a thank-you
He's still a young pup, so everyone should set him straight — tell him to go thank Ueda
He's got real driving power and there's no one else quite like him, so I want to see him developed properly
Can't expect anything from a guy who plays a backward pass on a ball like that
I thought ego was supposed to be his whole selling point, and that really put me off
Background and Key Points of This Topic
This moment occurred in the October 5 Kirin Cup final. Since it’s a friendly tournament, manager Hajime Moriyasu tends to use squad players and those he wants to test out, and Shioi has come on as a substitute multiple times during this tournament. The thread’s claim that “the same thing happened last match too” appears to refer to his choice of play in the sequence that led to the goal against Uruguay. That said, this particular incident was just a single moment in the 85th minute, and whether a pass would have actually created a clear chance remains pure speculation after the fact. Those defending him point to his age — just 21, with plenty of room to grow — and his role in the Uruguay goal, while critics frame his repeated tunnel vision as a “bad habit.” The fact that opinion split sharply down the middle over the very same play is what characterizes this thread.
*This article is an excerpt and summary based on the 5ch (Geisupo Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Kento Shioi takes on a defender himself instead of passing on a counterattack chance: “That kind of thing happened last match too, so it’s something to work on”.”
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