On DAZN, which broadcast the match between Japan and Iraq, guest player Shinji Ono and commentator Ryohei Hayashi expressed their anger.
Shinji Ono summed up the Japanese team's performance: "We didn't play as well as we expected. Iraq achieved their goal and Japan helped them do it. It was unbelievable, a weak, lifeless Japan, completely different from before. I don't know what happened to a lot of players. The performance was really bad and disappointing."
Commentator Ryohei Hayashi was upset: "Both the offense and defense are having too many problems. Honestly, Japan did not play well in the first half. The offense was in chaos, the front line was not arranged properly. The same goes for the defense. They did not have a clear plan when the team was on the rise."
Highlight Iraq 2 -0 Japan: The first earthquake in Asian Cup 2023
Japan conceded 2 goals in the first half for the second consecutive match
In the first half, the Japanese team had 70% possession but only had 3 shots. However, none of their shots were on target. They continuously crossed the ball from both sides but were harmless against the well-organized defense of the Iraqi team.
After looking at these statistics, Shinji Ono continued: "Possession doesn't reflect anything on the pitch. Japan excels at that but the results are terrible. Maybe coach Moriyasu has a problem on the left wing. He doesn't know who to put in that position now.
Minamino plays on the left and Kubo is placed in the center but the interaction with Asano - the highest striker is almost zero. In the midst of this deadlock, no star has emerged to carry the Japanese team, giving fans hope.
Meanwhile, News Yahoo Japan used the headline “Chaotic match” to describe what coach Moriyasu’s players showed against the Iraqi team. The site wrote: “We failed. There were areas where the Japanese team could not respond to Iraq’s long balls.
Japan's defense had problems, they were overwhelmed and could not cope with Hussein. The problem was that the Japanese players could not react well to the crosses from the two wings of the white team.
Japan also could not play the way they wanted in this match. Perhaps the Iraqi team studied the way the Vietnamese team broke through the Japanese team and applied it. We were too subjective against our opponents in Group D."
Japanese media assesses that subjectivity made the Japanese team pay the price
On LINE - the most popular platform in Japan, there was also a lot of criticism directed at the "Samurai Blue". Even after the first half ended, only more than 30% of Japanese fans believed in the ability of their team to come back against the Iraqi team.
A Japanese fan wrote: “I don’t like this performance. If the Japanese players keep playing like this, it will be too difficult for us to win the championship. From Vietnam to Iraq, they have taught us too many lessons.”
“Are you tired of attacking without any results, Japan? Iraq is just as difficult to play as Vietnam, or even more so. What were you doing for the second 45 minutes?”, another Japanese fan said.
The Japanese team tried hard in the second half but still lost to Iraq.
Despite their best efforts in the second half, Japan only scored a consolation goal in the 90+3 minute and lost 1-2. This result made the situation in Group D unpredictable as Iraq were the ones topping the group and had the biggest advantage in winning a ticket to the next round.
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