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Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo told a sports newspaper that, regarding the distance between Japan’s national team and winning the World Cup, “Little by little, without doubt, the gap is definitely closing.” Having been eliminated in the round of 32 at the North/Central America World Cup, Japan’s next stated goal is the title itself — but Kubo also noted, on the gap with champions Spain, that “you can never catch up by just copying,” signaling his push for Japan to find its own style of football. The remark sparked a reaction on 5ch’s sports-news board, splitting posters between those questioning the credibility of his words given his lack of playing time at club level this season, and those crediting his record with the national team.

[No Ball, No Life] Japan’s national team finished the World Cup — held across three North/Central American host countries — in the round of 32, and a new four-year cycle began with the September-October series of matches. Just how far is the team from its stated goal of “winning the World Cup”? Can a team that has never even reached the knockout round of 16 suddenly aim for the title? While fans, supporters, and former national team players have been debating the question from every angle, the players themselves, during this new round of national team duty, were unanimous that the target isn’t changing.

On the gap with Spain, who won the tournament with overwhelming dominance, midfielder Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad) declared: “Little by little, without doubt, the gap is definitely closing.” Still, he admitted he feels the difference: “Watching it on TV, part of me feels like we could compete, but the quality of every single play is just on another level. Every position is stacked with players of world-class value and ability — there are guys who’d be automatic starters elsewhere who can’t get a single minute here.”

Spain’s possession football isn’t built on physicality alone but on high-level technique and passing — a style all its own. Kubo admits, “It’s the kind of football I’d like us to aim for.” But he also revealed his honest take: “You can never catch up by just copying — a copy never beats the original. I think it’s great to borrow and incorporate ideas from others as part of finding a weapon that’s uniquely Japan’s, but if it’s just imitation, it’ll never measure up to the original.”

Source: sanspo.com / Read the original article here

This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (sports-news board) thread “[Soccer] Is Takefusa Kubo’s sense of how close Japan is to winning the World Cup near or far? “We’re still the nation being judged — Spain is the one doing the judging”.”