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The story
On the 27th, at the press conference held the day before the match against Venezuela, Japan national team manager Hajime Moriyasu criticized a report by some media outlets claiming that Ritsu Doan and Kento Shiogai had a heated clash during individual training at the World Cup, saying “the players themselves are getting hurt by this,” and made an unusual request to the assembled press. The report was reportedly based not on the source’s own eyewitness account but on secondhand information. Opinions on the forum thread split into two camps: those who felt the more the manager denies it, the more it seems true, and those who saw it as a legitimate request to stop reporting built on flimsy hearsay. Views also differed over just how much influence the reporter behind the story really has.
Japan national team manager Hajime Moriyasu attended the pre-match press conference on the 27th ahead of the Venezuela match (28th, at E Peace [stadium]). At the end of the conference, Moriyasu opened with, “I have one request,” and denied a report from some media outlets that hinted at a rift between Ritsu Doan and Kento Shiogai.
“I know you all have freedom of the press, but there’s a report from a certain outlet singling out these players, and it’s ending up hurting the players themselves. I really wish you’d stop publishing things that hurt the players,” the manager said. He continued, “It’s been reported that during individual training at the World Cup, Doan and Shiogai got heated, with Doan supposedly saying something pretty harsh to Shiogai. I’d like you to verify that, but the report was published as secondhand information — the source didn’t witness it themselves, they heard it from someone else. When we train, there are times players do clash with each other. In those moments there’s constructive back-and-forth, but neither side has ever intimidated the other or used abusive language,” he explained, laying out his request.
He also noted that in this case, it wasn’t the players who raised the issue — the request to the press was made at Manager Moriyasu’s own discretion. The manager said, “There’s a lack of respect for the players,” and asked for more consideration going forward.
Source: hochi.news / Original article here
What people said
This actually matters.
It's on Moriyasu too for letting that up-close media coverage happen in the first place.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HG1CkUAbgAEPI24?format=jpg
This reminded me of that.
Go look up the rules before you come back, lol
Hint: under the rules, offside only applies to the parts of the body a player is allowed to play the ball with — so that doesn't count.
Didn't Ohtani have some kind of clash with somebody during the WBC too?
That article was completely half-baked as well.
Teru wasn't isolated at all — he was on the bench chatting with Yamamoto.
If it weren't for that irresponsible sports reporter's article, he could've thrived.
He's still bitter about it to this day.
Moriyasu basically put the reporters on notice — "I won't let you destroy Shiogai now that he's finally found his composure" — a final warning.
Any reporter or magazine that breaks the rules is getting frozen out.
https://www.youtube.com/live/67lDciVX2HM?t=910&si=gBAcDg5CwqXMdt73
So he did at least gather info from sources close to Doan and others before saying it, huh.
Everyone's going on about his "influence," but does this guy really have that much pull?
If Moriyasu hadn't brought it up, regular fans wouldn't even know about this.
Though spreading false info is a different issue entirely.
This guy's basically the Bunshun of the soccer world (Japan's notorious tabloid-style scoop magazine) — he himself might not carry that much weight, but depending on the content it can blow up huge on social media.
That's exactly what happened here.
Lol, now it's spreading to Shiotani too.
His take was pretty level-headed: "If Shiogai backs it up with skill and results, he'll be seen as in the right — if not… well, I think he knows that himself."
Doan said something like "players who won't drop their ego should just disappear" during the World Cup too — I don't think he clicks with Shiogai.
I don't think he gets along with Kaoru Nakamura either.
Doan's stopped being able to perform himself, so he probably just can't stand players who outshine him.
So we're going back to the national team just passing the ball around in front of goal instead of shooting?
Matsuki, probably.
Shiogai did score his first goal, but before that he blew two good chances with selfish, hero-ball plays.
That's beyond the kind of ego a forward is allowed to have — that's just plain selfishness.
He scored, sure, but my opinion of Shiogai actually went down after this match.
You're the one talking pure speculation here.
Surely they at least heard the details straight from the players themselves, no?
Though since both are adults, they might be smoothing it over.
Ignoring it would've been the smarter move.
That's such an old-school way of thinking.
These days the right move is to deny it immediately, and sue if the other side won't retract.
If Shiogai just shot back with "You high-school dropout!" Doan would probably shut up real quick though.
Is that even something that matters to a pro athlete?
Shiogai's not the type to say something like "some lame bread made by a high-school grad."
Shiogai's own education level right now is also just high school, by the way…
He never actually graduated university.
Compete with proper, well-researched reporting instead.
– Because the Japan Football Association is just that awful
– Because Japanese media only ever write puff pieces praising the federation
Funny enough, there was a rumor that those two had a reconciliation "date" in Shin-Yokohama right after the South Africa World Cup.
Hope Doan and Shiogai end up the same way.
Brings back memories.
Shiogai's brazen boldness and momentum versus Doan's more cautious, conservative stance really mirrors that old dynamic between those two.
Not even close — Shiogai doesn't have anywhere near the ability to become the core of the national team.
But once practice ends, everyone's totally fine again — that's completely normal in football.
There's no way it's that clean and easygoing.
These are pros — a bunch of people with sky-high pride.
Background and Key Points of This Story
This incident began with reports from some media outlets, built on secondhand information, claiming that Ritsu Doan and Kento Shiogai clashed during individual training at a national team camp after the World Cup. As Manager Moriyasu himself explained, “the source didn’t witness it directly — it was something they heard from someone else,” meaning the report wasn’t based on a direct eyewitness account. Opinions on the thread split mainly along two lines: one debate pitted those who saw the manager’s public denial as, if anything, proof it really happened against those who viewed it as a legitimate request to stop reports built on flimsy hearsay; the other was a disagreement over just how much influence the reporter or outlet behind the story actually carries. One point readers could easily misread is that this request didn’t come from Doan or Shiogai themselves — it was the manager’s own call — so it should be read separately from the players’ own wishes. Some commenters also drew comparisons to past, similar reports, like the rumored rift between Keisuke Honda and Shunsuke Nakamura on the national team, though those are cited only as rumors that were never confirmed.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geino/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Manager Hajime Moriyasu Denies Rift Between Ritsu Doan and Kento Shiogai, Says “The Players Themselves Are Getting Hurt by This” — Makes Unusual Request to Press.”
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