Japan Falls Behind Venezuela but Fights Back to Equalize — Ito Junya Becomes Japan’s All-Time Assist Leader

Background and Talking Points

This friendly was arranged during an international Group A match week and appears to be part of manager Moriyasu’s squad evaluation ahead of the World Cup finals. His decision to leave out key players like Kubo Takefusa and Ito Junya in favor of a heavily rotated starting lineup split the thread — some questioned the tactics, arguing the team looked “unstable without established chemistry,” while others felt “resting the main players was the right call.” Ito Junya’s rise to the top of Japan’s all-time assist list is an officially recorded achievement, and it drew more attention in the thread than the result of the friendly itself. It’s also worth noting that opponents Venezuela are the only one of South America’s ten countries never to have reached the World Cup finals, a point commenters raised as well. As is typical for friendlies, it’s worth keeping in mind that the result itself doesn’t directly feed into official rankings.