On Sunday 19 August, the U-21 Japan National Team faced the U-23 Vietnam National Team in their third group stage match at the 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang. The team lost the match 0-1, but still advanced to the knockout stage as the runners-up of Group D, while Vietnam led the group with three wins. Japan will now face Malaysia on Friday 24 August in the round of 16.

With the two teams entering the match with exact record including points, goal differential, and total goals scored, the Japanese side elected to start OBI Powell Obinna at goal, with a three-man defence line of HARA Teruki, TATSUTA Yugo, and SUGIOKA Daiki. WATANABE Kouta and KAMIYA Yuta took the central midfield role while HATSUSE Ryo and ENDO Keita were positioned in the flanks. MAEDA Daizen was named as the lone striker with MIYOSHI Koji and MITOMA Kaoru playing just beneath him.

Facing the AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 runners-up, the team prepared themselves by telling each other that, “It will be a totally different type of match from the previous two matches.” However, Japan opened up the match by conceding the opening goal in the third minute, when Vietnam came out applying aggressive pressure from their front line. Kamiya was forced to turn over the ball which was delivered from his goalkeeper, and the Vietnamese side pounced on this opportunity to score the first goal of the match. Despite their eagerness to equalise the match, Japan struggled to find ways to crack open the opposing defence. Conversely, allowed Vietnam to create numerous opportunities by giving up the loose balls. In the 13th minute, a quick driven grounder was delivered in front of the Japanese goal, where a Vietnamese player connected to fire a shot, but the shot went just off the right side of the goal. Another opportunity came to the Vietnam side in the 33rd minute, when a cross was delivered from the left flank, allowing them to head the ball towards the goal. Japan managed to keep the score intact but struggled greatly to create a goal scoring opportunity as Maeda later reflected the first half, “I was left alone upfront. I should have done more to find ways to pass the ball to change the situation. I also lacked quality in my plays after breaking away with my speed.”

In the second half, Coach MORIYASU Hajime brought in MATSUMOTO Taishi for Kamiya, and IWASAKI Yuto for Mitoma, while changing their system to a four-man defence line to apply more pressure to win the ball and to create more build-ups. In the 51st minute, Sugioka delivered a diagonal pass to Maeda, who struck a shot, but his effort was blocked by the opposing goalkeeper. Japan started to create more chances by possessing the ball, as they came close to equalising the match in the 79th minute, when the ball was passed from Iwasaki to Miyoshi and Maeda shook the net with his shot, but their attempt was called offsides. Japan utilised their third substitution in the 80th minute to bring in UEDA Ayase for Maeda. The late substitution came in action in the 82nd minute, when the ball was passed from Watanabe to Hatsuse following a counter attack. The cross delivered by Hatsuse found Ueda in front of the goal, but Ueda’s header couldn’t find the back of the net. Japan continued to show their attacking efforts, while evading the counter attacks generated by the Vietnam side, but the match ended with a final score of 0-1. With this result, the U-21 Japan National Team will head into the knockout stage as the runners-up of the group.

In the round of 16, Japan will take on the Group E leaders, the U-23 Malaysia National Team. The Malaysian side had already clinched the top spot after beating Korea Republic in the second group stage match. The round of 16 match between Japan and Malaysia will take place on Friday 24 August with a kick-off time of 19:30 local time at Patriot Stadium.

Coach and Players’ Comments

MORIYASU Hajime, Coach (U-21 Japan National Team)
We wanted to enter the knockout stage by beating Vietnam, so this result is disappointing. We knew it was going to be a tough challenge for us. We conceded an early goal from our own mistake and was forced to chase the opponents for the rest of the match. The goal not only gave our opponents momentum, but it also made it a difficult match for us to pursue. In the first half, our opponents had the upper hand in fifty-fifty balls and the second balls were falling their way as well. We made the necessary adjustments during halftime and our players displayed great improvements as well as courageous plays to level the match, but we came short from scoring a goal. We must learn from today’s match and utilise the experience to make a deep run in the knockout stage.

MF #6 HATSUSE Ryo (Gamba Osaka)
We conceded the goal in a regretful manner. It happened in our first play, so we must fix our approach as a team. We also saw many goal scoring opportunities as well. If we managed to convert those chances, we could have tied and taken the lead, so we need to be more confident in those situations. In order for us to make a deep run at this tournament, we must become able to evade the pressure applied by the opposing side. We have secured our spot into the knockout stage, and we are given four days to prepare ourselves, so we will utilise that time frame to prepare ourselves well ahead of the next match.

MF #10 MIYOSHI Koji (Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo)
We wanted to enter the knockout stage by winning the third match, so this loss is very disappointing. Vietnam applied pressure aggressively from their front line, and we couldn’t share the same decisions among ourselves. We kept possession of the ball in the second half to initiate our attacks, but we couldn’t take much shots. The match left us with many tasks that we must work on, such as the way we challenge the ball and the way we combine with each other. We will reset our minds ahead of the knockout stage and work hard as a team.

MF #14 MATSUMOTO Taishi (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
We struggled to finish our plays with a shot. I personally feel that our flank midfielders and attacking midfielders needed to challenge the ball more and attack the goal more aggressively. On the other hand, there were scenes where we were counter attacked and almost conceded a goal. Even though we were managing our risks, we applied too much numbers upfront and allowed our opponents to counter us. But once again, these opportunities wouldn’t have occurred if we finished our play with a shot. I will continue to speak with our defenders to make the necessary adjustments and improve ourselves ahead of our next match.

Schedule

*Local Time
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

The 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang

Tournament Dates: Sat. 18 August - Sun. 2 September 2018

【Men's】Group Stage
1st Match Tue. 14 August 21:00 [Japan Time] vs Nepal
2nd Match Thu. 16 August 18:00 [Japan Time] vs Pakistan
3rd Match Sun. 19 August 18:00 [Japan Time] vs Vietnam

Tournament Information