Chinese Media: ‘Japan’s Win Was Skill, Not Luck’ — Analysis After Uruguay Match

From our other sites

The story

On September 24, in an international friendly at Q&A Stadium Miyagi, Japan’s national team faced Uruguay and won 3-1. Kuryu Matsuki, making his senior debut, opened the scoring, and late in the match Kento Shiogai and Ayase Ueda struck the go-ahead and clinching goals. Following the result, Chinese media assessed that “Uruguay just waited for Japan’s mistakes — Japan’s win was a product of skill, not luck.” On 5ch, some welcomed the analysis warmly, while others pointed to the self-deprecating streak in Chinese soccer coverage and noted that Uruguay wasn’t at its best after a long-haul flight, broadening the discussion.

In the international friendly held on September 24, Japan’s national team, led by manager Hajime Moriyasu, faced South American powerhouse Uruguay at Q&A Stadium Miyagi.

In the opening match of the third Moriyasu era following the North/Central American World Cup, Japan took the lead in the 11th minute. Kuryu Matsuki, playing his senior debut, fired home a sharp left-footed strike from distance. But in the 42nd minute, a passing mistake in their own half let Maxi Araújo equalize.

Still, in the 90+1st minute, Kento Shiogai converted a final pass from Ayase Ueda to retake the lead. Five minutes later, Ueda broke through on a perfectly weighted through ball from Junya Ito to seal the win, and Japan claimed a 3-1 victory.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:32
There's no way you're in peak shape after a 12-hour flight — just staying upright out there deserves some credit.
19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:51
Re: #7
Same goes for Japan, honestly 😅
8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:33
China probably has to shell out serious cash just to schedule matches against strong nations.
10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:34
China should have more confidence — in baseball they're basically a world powerhouse lol
11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:35
China's got no business acting high and mighty here.
What were you guys even doing during the last World Cup? Cutting grass?
12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:38
China loves soccer, so their eye for the game is pretty sharp.
13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:40
What they're saying is correct —
Japan's still missing something before it can win the World Cup.
14AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:41
Re: #1

×××
Today's match, Japan vs Uruguay —
attendance at Q Stadium was
44,070!

That's more than the population (36,000) of Rifu, the Miyagi town the stadium is in…

And it was a weekday lol

https://dec.2chan.net/up2/src/fu7312602.jpeg
16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:44
Re: #14
Kirin must be thrilled (the beverage company that sponsors these Japan friendlies is cashing in)
15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:42
For some reason soccer is the one sport where they consistently talk Japan up.
17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:49
Chinese soccer media >>> Chinese fans >>>>>> Chinese soccer players
21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:53
China really does love soccer…
so why are they in such a sorry state?
23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:56
Re: #21
They always say loving something and being good at it are two different things.
25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 18:58
Re: #21
Shanghai sports bars (better at watching than playing, in other words)
26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:01
China's opponents for September–October are the Maldives, NZ, Palestine, and Tajikistan…

I get New Zealand (they made the World Cup) and Palestine (knocked out in Asian third-round qualifying),
but come on, book someone a bit stronger.
29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:06
Re: #26
They should've just called up Cape Verde.
39AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:25
The decent journalists in China go into sports —
you can't write freely about politics,
so sports is the one beat where you actually can.
75AnonymousSep 25, 2026 20:37
Re: #39
Running down your own country is usually taboo — wonder why self-deprecation is only allowed in sports.
40AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:27
If you had Samurai Japan (the national baseball team) play soccer for a year, I bet they'd blow out the actual soccer team —
that's how big the gap in athleticism is.
43AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:29
Re: #40
Those pigs wouldn't last 10 minutes lmaooooo
47AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:32
Re: #40
No chance, they're below high school girls' level

A Tohoku Rakuten (baseball) player was gassed doing stadium-stair sprints, while the Tokiwagi Gakuen High School girls' soccer players running alongside him looked completely unfazed…
https://x.com/kahoku_shimpo/status/1857002617081098243
74AnonymousSep 25, 2026 20:36
Re: #40
Honestly though, I'd like to see rugby players try it instead.
41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:28
Chinese people sure are quick to trash-talk themselves over soccer.
49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:34
Re: #1
'China's hopeless at team sports lolll'



People say this sometimes, but they've actually picked up plenty of Olympic golds in team events.
How do they explain that one?
52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:42
Re: #49
The team events China wins are things like gymnastics —
that's really just a bunch of individual routines bundled together.
57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:52
Baseball World Rankings (as of March 26, 2026)

1. Japan
2. Taiwan
3. USA
4. South Korea
>
>
>
17. Germany
18. China
19. Canada


China can be a world baseball power basically fielding amateurs lol
shows just how niche 'bat-swinging' (a dismissive nickname for baseball) is worldwide lol
59AnonymousSep 25, 2026 19:59
Re: #57
Team Mexico was on the bench
eating Donbei cup noodles
60AnonymousSep 25, 2026 20:02
Why have Chinese sports papers always been so reasonable?
63AnonymousSep 25, 2026 20:04
Popular sports in Asia:

1. Soccer
2. Badminton
3. Swimming
4. Basketball
5. Cycling
6. Volleyball
7. Cricket
8. Table tennis
9. Tennis
10. Boxing
http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/samuraigoal/imgs/a/c/ac7ab344.png


Soccer's huge in China, but baseball's unpopular there — written off as a dead zone nobody cares about lol
68AnonymousSep 25, 2026 20:12
When it comes to soccer, Chinese commentary is surprisingly level-headed.
81AnonymousSep 25, 2026 20:43
Re: #68
What China calls 'level-headed' reads more like government-spokesperson talk — this one's actually 'grovelling.'

Background and Key Points of This Discussion

This match was the opening game of the newly reorganized Moriyasu Japan following the North/Central American World Cup, with attention on Kuryu Matsuki, who scored on his first senior call-up. The attendance of 44,070 also became a talking point on the thread, since it exceeded the population (roughly 36,000) of Rifu, the Miyagi town where the stadium is located. On the Chinese media’s assessment, commenters on the thread noted that soccer seems to be the one area where criticizing the home team is tolerated — reflecting how, in China, where political reporting leaves little room for open criticism, sports coverage has become a relatively independent space for commentary. Several also pointed out that Uruguay was at a disadvantage after a long-haul flight right before kickoff, so the result can’t be read as purely one-sided. There’s also a persistent gap between China’s actual national-team strength and the sport’s popularity there, a disconnect that came up repeatedly in the thread.

*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread ‘[Soccer] Chinese Media: “Uruguay Just Waited for Japan’s Mistakes — Japan’s Win Was a Product of Skill, Not Luck; We Don’t Even Have the Element of Luck”.’

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *