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The story
On September 28, Japan’s national team faced Venezuela in a friendly match at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima, and after a rare sequence in which a penalty initially awarded to Venezuela in second-half stoppage time was overturned by VAR into a penalty for Japan instead, they came from behind to win 2-1. With 10 changes to the starting lineup from the Uruguay match, there was also an unfortunate incident when debutant Kumasaka Koki was injured early in the first half and carried off on a stretcher. In the thread, alongside the dramatic penalty-call saga, opinions were divided over the result of the South Korea match played at the same time, as well as the performances of individual players like Kubo Takefusa.
Japan’s national team faced Venezuela in an international friendly at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima on September 28. They snatched the winning goal from a penalty just before full-time to claim a 2-1 victory.
[Actual Footage] This is what an ace looks like… Ito Junya’s exquisite cross finished off by Ueda Ayase in a stunning goal
Japan made 10 changes to the starting lineup from the international friendly against Uruguay on the 24th. GK Kokubo Reo Bryan, DF Nakano Shuto, MF Kumasaka Koki, and MF Saito Shunsuke all made their national team debuts. However, in the 2nd minute of the first half, Kumasaka, after being fouled, signaled to the bench requesting a substitution. He sat down on the pitch, and in the 8th minute he was carried off on a stretcher and replaced by MF Tanaka Satoshi.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Tanaka Ao, brilliant defending and positioning!
Thought it'd be like a 10-goal blowout, but South Korea's actually holding their own
Kim Min-jae 43' (OG)
lol ("草" = Japanese netspeak for LOL, literally "grass")
Uruguay's going way too hard here, it's hilarious. This is basically a broadcast disaster at this point.
It's only the 64th minute?
There's still room for a dream scoreline
They were talking pretty big before the match 🤭
Korean media compares Japan and Korea's national teams — both won 3-goal games against South American sides, drawing attention as an "indirect comparison" before kickoff
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/0c5e2579a30538a114bdad7559fc081ec96c3489
Zaion got a touch on the ball too, so…
With a normal referee
that's a red card and a penalty
Zaion did technically get a touch on the ball. Didn't really connect with it though.
The last pass before Venezuela's penalty was offside
https://n.picvr.net/2609282126457160.jpg
Oh wow, true! Venezuela's PK shouldn't have been given in the first place
The officiating crew was just way too incompetent
Ueda's arm was out too though, so it's a tough call
Here we go, they're getting summoned to the National Assembly again
You're kidding, right?
What happened, big bro Korea 🇰🇷?
Uruguay's strong, but
they're not really "concede 4 and lose" strong
And that's with Valverde still out, too…
⚽ Japan National Team Schedule
9/30 (Wed) 19:30~
Aichi Asian Games, Men's Football Semifinal
U-21 Japan vs Uzbekistan 🇺🇿
📺 TBS network
Kirin Cup
10/1 (Thu) 19:10~
Japan vs Ecuador 🇪🇨
Yokohama International Stadium
📺 TBS network
Kirin Cup
10/5 (Mon) 19:30~
Japan vs Panama 🇵🇦 or 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
Why's Osaka thrown in there
I can just imagine what a brutal, difficult birth that must've been
There might be someone out there who debuts at age zero
but loses to Uruguay by 4
The power balance makes no sense
Guess it just comes down to matchups?
The team they beat by 3 was Ecuador
The team Korea beat was Ecuador, from North/Central America and the Caribbean
not Venezuela, from South America
Probably both Venezuela and Uruguay just weren't in form, playing right after arriving in Japan
https://n.picvr.net/2609282126457160.jpg
Yeah, that's blatantly offside
Since Kubo's play ended up being the penalty, they could let this one slide, but if it hadn't been a penalty
they'd have had to review this one too — VAR would've been swamped with this scene
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
The penalty-reversal comeback in second-half stoppage time is a textbook case of VAR overturning the referee’s call via an “on-field review,” reflecting how thoroughly VAR has been applied even in this tournament’s friendlies. In the thread, some pointed out (see >>338 and others) that Venezuela’s own penalty chance may have stemmed from an offside play, showing this was a match with close calls on both sides. The South Korea match played at the same time (a 0-4 loss to Uruguay) also came up repeatedly, but it’s a common mix-up: the match Korea won by 3 goals was against Ecuador, not Venezuela — the opponents are actually different. Opinions on Kubo Takefusa’s performance were also split, a defining feature of the thread, with both harsh criticism and data-based defenses appearing side by side. Worth noting separately from the result: Kumasaka Koki was carried off on a stretcher early in the first half of his national team debut.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Sports Express+) thread “[Soccer] Japan’s Bizarre Twist: Opponent’s Penalty Overturned Into Their Own — VAR Kicks In During Second-Half Stoppage Time, Comeback 2-1 Win Over Venezuela.”
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