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The story
Japan faced Ecuador in the Kirin Cup and won 4-3 on penalties after playing to a scoreless 0-0 draw. In his Nikkan Sports column, Sergio Echigo (81) lamented a first half that offered little to watch, and criticized the fact that no clear new talent has emerged across Japan’s three matches so far. On 5ch, discussion spread around frustration with manager Hajime Moriyasu’s tendency to stick with the same core group of players, and debate over why no new talent is breaking through — while some pushed back, noting Ecuador had a full week of rest compared to Japan’s three-day turnaround, arguing “Ecuador’s own conditions should be factored in too.” Rather than the match itself, it was the evaluation of squad selection and lineup policy that split opinion.
<Kirin Cup: Japan 0 (5 PK 4) 0 Ecuador> ◇October 1 ◇Nissan Stadium
Japan (ranked 17th by FIFA) faced Ecuador (ranked 25th), both sides having been eliminated in the round of 32 at this summer’s World Cup across North and Central America, and won on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Nikkan Sports columnist Sergio Echigo (81) lamented a first half that was especially short on highlights, and voiced unease that no solid new talent has emerged across the three matches so far.
In a similar penalty shootout the night before at the Asian Games, the “younger sibling” team (the U-21 squad) came through; tonight it was the “older sibling’s” turn. But since the older sibling was playing at home, I at least wanted to see them push forward a bit more.
Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here
What people said
Korea lost 1-4 to Uruguay.
He just lines up whatever players developed on their own.
And the moment those guys break down or get old, it's "oh noooo, we're doomed."
He tries to add some flair by calling up guys like Shiogai, but in the end it's just a gimmick and nothing comes of it.
It wasn't really Tanimura's fault — it was Suzuki Yuito missing shot after shot that killed it.
Tanaka Ao's incredible vertical pass → Tanimura → Suzuki Yuito, and it still didn't end in a goal — that's rough.
https://x.com/98sep10/status/2105637314286477595
That blazing-fast through ball, Premier League-honed, was something else.
With a pass as sluggish as Tanaka's, the defense has time to reset its shape, so it never actually becomes a threat.
Until Japan closes that gap, none of this even matters.
I thought, this guy must be an idiot. He should just quit already.
That's Sergio for you —
he's seen right through just how rigged the Kokutai really is.
Especially with the Uruguay match, people were desperate to cry "traveled from the other side of the planet! time difference! fatigue!!!!"
By that logic Ecuador should have steamrolled Japan.
Honestly, maybe it's South America's declining level we should be worrying about, not Japan's.
If new players could just pop up one after another that easily, nobody would have any trouble.
Grown adult still thinking like it's a video game, huh? (lit. "game brain")
Feels like all he wants are fill-ins to hold the fort until his "strongest lineup of regulars" is fully assembled again.
The weight of a single goal, the catharsis when the balance finally breaks —
if you can't appreciate that, go watch basketball or volleyball.
The thrill of unexpected plays born from team coordination —
if you can't appreciate that, go watch baseball.
But hey, watch it however you like.
Isn't South America's finishing pretty lacking too, though?
What were you even watching at that World Cup?
The team that won was the one that decided individual finishing has its limits, so they'd raise their organizational strength instead.
Moripo's (nickname for Moriyasu) only goal is the Asian Cup, so the players he's used for the past eight years are more than enough.
The only one who's actually retired from the national team is Endo.
And if the center-backs start dropping like flies again, don't worry, he'll just casually call Taniguchi back up too.
At this point just commit and go down together.
Name one country that actually got stronger because its supporters were harsh on it.
The first one that comes to mind is… Big-Brother-land. (i.e., Japan itself, using the sarcastic "oniichan" nickname)
Why is Sergio only ever condescending toward Japan, I wonder?
Of course he talks down to them — he's above them, so that's just natural.
But he's the same guy who tells Japanese people to stop being condescending about Chinese football.
He defends every other Asian country, yet only ever criticizes Japanese football.
Japan's World Cup results keep getting worse though.
So yeah, guess no such country exists after all.
But it's still fresh in memory that big brother (Japan) took down a Germany and a Portugal that were both playing all-in, backs-against-the-wall football, right?
https://www.soccerdigestweb.com/news/detail/id=63182
August 23, 2019
And no matter how often this comes up afterward, it just keeps getting ignored.
I think what he's getting at is that they haven't actually been performing well.
Background and Key Points of This Debate
Sergio Echigo has spent years writing sharply critical columns about Japanese football for Nikkan Sports, and his complaint here that “no new talent is emerging” isn’t a new claim — it’s simply an extension of an argument he’s made repeatedly over time. Meanwhile, within the thread, some replies point out that while Japan played on a three-day turnaround, Ecuador had a full week of rest since its previous match — a scheduling gap that a simple strength comparison doesn’t capture, and one that’s easy to miss from the article summary alone. Also, the “older sibling” and “younger sibling” language in the article refers to the senior national team (“older sibling”) winning its shootout the night after the U-21 team (“younger sibling”) won its own shootout at the Asian Games — a turn of phrase from within the column itself — which is a different, unrelated usage from the “oniichan” (big bro) nickname that keeps popping up in the 5ch replies, so the two shouldn’t be confused. Evaluations of Moriyasu’s player selection also mix two different yardsticks — Asian Cup results versus World Cup results — which is part of why opinion in the thread is so divided.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary from the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Sergio Echigo: Older brother, I wish you’d pushed forward just a bit more… New talent still hasn’t emerged.”
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