Japan national team forward Kento Shioi came on as a substitute in the October 5 match against New Zealand, won the ball back in his own half, and carried it forward alone — attempting to force his way through three defenders before losing the ball. Asked about the play afterward, Shioi explained that it wasn’t that he “chose not to pass,” but that he simply “didn’t see” teammate Keito Nakamura, who was wide open, and expressed deep regret. On 5ch’s live-commentary threads, opinions split over whether to take that explanation at face value. Some argued it was simply a case of limited vision due to inexperience, while others suspected he actually saw Nakamura but chose not to pass — and the discussion expanded into debates about Shioi’s career history and future potential.
Japan national team forward Kento Shioi has revealed the truth behind the “viral moment” that split fan opinion.
On October 5, Japan faced New Zealand in the final match of a September–October series featuring four international friendlies. Japan won 2–1, claiming the Kirin Cup for the first time in 15 years.
Shioi came on as a substitute in the 78th minute, playing at center forward, and it was a single moment in the 85th minute that had the whole stadium buzzing. After collecting a loose ball in his own half, Shioi beat midfielder Alex Rufer with a slick double touch. He then drove forward alone into the opposition half, and even after being surrounded by three defenders — including Rufer — he forced his way to the right. In the end, though, his dribble was stopped just short of the penalty area.
Source: times.abema.tv / Original article here
3AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:47
That's even worse lol
4AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:49
Sounds like he wouldn't even get picked for Nadeshiko Japan (the women's national team) at this rate
5AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:50
Guys like Mitoma or Junya Ito can actually blow past 2-3 defenders.
Drawing in three defenders is fine, but the fact he couldn't accelerate at all and got caught so easily was kind of funny.
6AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:50
And if he'd held back and passed instead, and the guy missed the chance, people would just say "you should've gone yourself."
There are plenty of people who'll complain no matter what you do.
9AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
Re: #6
He did go for it himself and failed lmao
19AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:00
Re: #6
That's just how pro sports, entertainment, and spectacle work.
What do you even think football is?
7AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
Rather than giving him a few minutes in a friendly, wouldn't it have been better to play him a full match or long minutes at the Asian Games?
10AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:53
He doesn't need to reflect on it at all.
Don't play it safe and shrink yourself!!
12AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:54
The player named Ozeki who played for the Asian squad looked like he was on a completely different level from everyone else.
He seems like he'd do even better surrounded by senior national team players.
Plus he's good-looking too.
15AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:56
He doesn't have the ability to finish it off by himself in the first place.
16AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:57
No idea why, but Moriyasu keeps calling him up — once Oiwa takes over I doubt he'll ever get called again, so whatever.
22AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
Re: #16
Still, Moriyasu genuinely has a knack for picking out young talent, so this guy might still break out.
47AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:12
Re: #16
Nah, unfortunately he'll probably keep getting called up.
Ueda is the only decent forward Japan has right now, so Moriyasu is deliberately calling him up to plant seeds for the future, for "Oiwa Japan" down the road.
The national team runs as a collective organization of coaches and staff, so player selection probably won't change drastically just because the manager does.
20AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:01
Re: #1
A striker with a "me! me!" attitude is just about right.
Guys who just shuffle the ball around with passes won't cut it on the world stage.
21AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:01
Not seeing that is genuinely bad.
Actually, I don't think players like Goto need to be called up either.
At minimum they should be at a starting level abroad.
Right now they're just getting called up for being overseas, period.
63AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:18
Re: #21
Goto was a regular starter for a team that finished third in Belgium, and he was producing results too.
Freiburg are near the top of the Bundesliga this season, and with Matanović in the mix, it's not even clear Ueda would start there either — that's the level they're playing at.
Shioi, though, has never managed to stay a regular starter throughout his career — not in Japan, not in the Netherlands, not in the Bundesliga 1st or 2nd division.
So I think he's just fundamentally lacking in experience.
23AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
His name had gotten famous so I watched expecting something, but…he was unbelievably bad lol
24AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
He's the selfish type who only thinks about scoring himself.
Never call him up again.
25AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
If he could've easily squared a simple pass, I already question his football IQ at that point.
26AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:03
Is there even a chance he didn't see that? lol
It was a 100-0 situation where he had to pass, so isn't he just pretending he didn't see it?
37AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:08
Re: #26
It can happen that you look right at something and still don't register it.
Low-level referees do that all the time, and it leads to bad calls.
27AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:03
Well that's still bad lol. Even elementary schoolers glance around before receiving the ball or taking someone on.
Not checking your surroundings means you don't even know where the opponents are, let alone your teammates lol
28AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:04
Not being able to see the bigger picture is even worse.
36AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:07
A forward who opts to pass isn't a threat.
One who's always looking to score himself is the scarier one.
41AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:09
Re: #36
Shioi has no technique and is just bad, so passing to Nakamura was his only real option…
45AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:11
He won the ball himself and carried it all that way — passing to Nakamura was the correct choice, sure.
But Shioi wasn't wrong either.
49AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:13
Re: #45
Shioi himself admitted he made a mistake though lol
At least his excuses are top-notch.
48AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:12
It's not that he couldn't see him, he just didn't try to look.
The reason he deliberately tried to break through the tighter right side was because he didn't want to look left — because Nakamura was waiting there wide open.
69AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:23
Re: #48
Probably something like that.
Shioi isn't all that fast by overseas standards, so it might genuinely be tough for him.
56AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:15
Re: #47
Do you not have a brain?
If you think Shioi is next in line after Ueda, don't even talk about football anymore.
There were plenty of players better than Shioi on the Asian select squad too.
83AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:30
Re: #56
Shioi scored a hat-trick against Italy's U21 side — two years older than him — at the Maurice Revello Tournament with the Japan U19s, and he transferred to Wolfsburg at age 20 for 1.7 billion yen. He's a genuine prospect.
59AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:16
If Nakamura had been ahead of him, fair enough, but not looking back for a guy making a run from behind and just going straight for goal isn't a bad attitude to have.
On a counter-attack, frantically looking around in front of goal to find a pass is the worse option.
86AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:31
Just like he kept using Zion, maybe master tactician Moriyasu can already picture Shioi leading Japan to the dream stage someday.
89AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:32
Re: #86
Maybe we don't need Zion either
that guy concedes a lot of shots lol
90AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:33
Is it even possible not to see that?
96AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:36
Re: #90
There's no way a player good enough to go pro wouldn't see a guy running alongside him like that — he's just making excuses and saying whatever.
Background and Points of Debate
Kento Shioi is a young forward who transferred to Wolfsburg at age 20, and he built a strong reputation during his U19 national team days, including a hat-trick at a tournament. On the other hand, he has rarely stayed a regular starter at his clubs, and some see his decision-making in situations where he creates a numbers advantage as still a work in progress. What split the thread was whether to take his own explanation — that he “didn’t see” Nakamura — at face value as a case of limited vision due to inexperience, or to view it skeptically as an excuse covering for a deliberate choice. In football, it’s hard to tell from the outside whether a player’s situation is “he registered it visually but couldn’t process it in time” versus “he physically didn’t see it,” and the player’s own account alone doesn’t settle the matter. The thread also brought up concrete details about his career — his record at his clubs, his transfer fee — making this more than just an emotional argument, but one grounded in his track record.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Kento Shioi’s forced breakthrough splits opinion — it wasn’t that he “didn’t pass,” but that he “didn’t see” — overlooking Keito Nakamura, he deeply reflects, saying “all I was thinking about was taking him on”.”
