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- Japan vs Mexico Kubo (center) shot in the first half (photographed by Ko Kenta)
[Oakland (California) on the 6th (7th in Japan time) = Sato Naruhito]The Japanese national team (17th in the FIFA rankings) drew 0-0 with the Mexico national team (13th in the same year) in an international friendly match.
There were good opportunities, with midfielder Kubo Takefusa taking the lead from the start of the first half and midfielder Kubo Takefusa had two scoring opportunities. In the 8th minute of the second half, midfielder Minamino Takumi tried to get a right-footed volley from Kubo's cross ball, but he missed it to the goal.
The entire team was able to fight tenaciously and draw 0-0. Although they were unable to win, they had a fierce duel at the stage, which was just like the real World Cup, Japan Football Association (JFA) Chairman Miyamoto Tsuneyasu expressed his consequences, saying, “It was good in terms of strengthening.”
He is four years older than the world rankings, and he said, “I think it was a match where he played against a stronger opponent than before, and he felt the way he worked on the opponent's sex, press, and there were scenes where he was able to have sex with him for a while.” He recalls that once again, assuming the real World Cup, it was a match against an opponent who would advance to the 8th from the final 16.
“Each person has had more defensive tenacity than ever before. I think there was such a dangerous crisis in front of the goal, but on the other hand, I had two or three chances. When I saw the players' lockers' expressions once again, he looked like he wanted to win this match. I think whether he can decide or not, and that's the boundary between whether he can go even higher in the tournament.”
A number of injured defender line players were also inflicted on the same day, and Itakura Ko was substituted in the middle of the week after hurting his leg. In the midst of this, Watanabe Tsuyoshi, Seko Ayumu and others put their bodies on their feet and didn't lose concentration until the end.
“When I went there like a one-on-one, there were some tough physicalities, such as the passing of the ball (opposing forward) Raul Jimenez, but everyone was conscious of the key points of competition, such as covering the second ball together, and even when it was a problem, everyone was able to output and return and crush the ball so that everyone could not concede a goal. They had high concentration and high quality. After that, if we could focus on getting points, I think it would lead to the next step.”
A final boo was also made from the stands, but “I think it was probably a message that we should win.” The challenge is that we were not able to win, but he concluded, “We had a time when we had the upper hand, so it was good in terms of strengthening.”
