Japan has been on a roll lately. They’ve won two straight September A matches.
Japan won the September A match 4-2 in a friendly against Turkiye at the Henk Chegeka Arena in Belgium on Sept. 12 (KST). Japan has won two straight matches in September.
Japan lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Kyogo Furuhashi started up front. Keito Nakamura, Takefusa Kubo, and Ritsu Toan formed the second line. Atsuki Ito and Aosa Tanaka played in the defensive midfield. The defense was Hiroki Ito, Kogi Machida, Shogo Taniguchi, and Seiya Maikuma. Kosuke Nakamura was in goal.
Japan dominated from the start. Japan scored in the 14th minute. In the 14th minute, Atsuki Ito fired a powerful left-footed shot that flew into the corner of the net beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.
Thirteen minutes later, Japan added another goal. In the 27th minute, Kubo fired a left-footed shot from the front of the penalty box. It was headed straight at the keeper, but he was too strong and it bounced off his body. Keito took advantage and rattled the net.
In the 36th minute, Japan scored their third goal. Keito took a pass from Maikuma and fired a shot that slipped between the defender’s legs and into the back of the net. Before the half was over, Japan had scored three goals and effectively won the match.
Turkiye was not to be denied. In the 43rd minute of the first half, Kabak scored on a free kick from Turkiye, taking advantage of a missed punch by Japan goalkeeper Kosuke. Kosuke was withdrawn due to injury just before halftime and Daniel Schmidt came on in his place. The first half ended with Japan leading 3-1.
Both teams utilized their substitutions at the start of the second half. Japan made three changes, including Junya Ito, while Turkiye made five, including Hakan Chalhanoglu.
Turkiye pushed hard. In the 16th minute of the second half, a cross from the Turkiye side was deflected by two Japanese defenders before finding Irdim. Irdim rattled the Japanese net with an accurate shot.
Japan attacked for a second goal but were unlucky as Kyogo’s shot hit the post in the 17th minute. In the 29th minute, Japan drove a wedge into the game. On a Japanese counterattack, Turkiye was fouled and a penalty kick was awarded. Japan’s kicker was Junya Ito. Junya stepped up and slotted it to the right to make it 4-2.
The game ended with no further goals and a 4-2 victory for Japan.
Japan has been on a roll lately. On the 10th of this month, Japan faced Germany in an A-match friendly at the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg, Germany, and won 4-1.
Germany was at full strength that day. Kai Haberts started up front, followed by Serge Gnabry-Florian Wirz-Leroy Zane in the second line. Ilkay Gundogan-Emre Chan started in the midfield.
The back four was Niko Schlotterback, Antonio Rudiger, Nicolas Schürrle, and Joshua Kimmich. The goalkeeping gloves were worn by André ter Stegen. The starting lineup was filled with players who play for some of Europe’s top clubs.
Germany lost Shinji Musiala to injury, but it didn’t make much of a difference as Wirz was a quality player in his place. Even with Japan’s recent European performances, the Germans had the better name recognition.
It was Japan who broke the 0-0 tie. In the 11th minute, Junya Ito won a contest with Rudiger for a cross and fired a shot that went straight into the goal to give Japan the lead.
Germany soon followed. In the 19th minute, Zaneh received a pass from Birz and shot straight at the defense without any interference.
Germany’s spirits seemed to be rising, but Japan added another goal. In the 22nd minute, Junya Ito’s shot went wide, but the ball fell to Ayase Ueda, who slotted it home.
In the 45th minute, substitute Takefusa Kubo passed to Asano, who calmly finished into an empty net. In stoppage time, Kubo’s cross was headed in by Ao. It was underpowered but headed into the corner where the keeper couldn’t touch it. The match ended with a 4-1 victory for Japan.
The win was Japan’s second straight against Germany. The two teams had already met in the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
On that occasion, the Germans dominated. Germany’s Ilkay Gundogan scored the first goal. However, in the second half, Japan’s Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano conceded back-to-back goals and Germany lost 1-2. The loss ended Germany’s hopes of advancing to the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Japan is currently on a four-match winning streak in A matches. In those four games, they have scored a whopping 18 goals. They have only conceded four goals. They are averaging 4.5 goals and 1 conceded per game. They have a solid offensive and defensive balance.바카라사이트
Japanese fans are also happy with the team”s performance. The Japanese national team was criticized at the beginning of Morias Hajime”s tenure. However, the team”s recent good form has improved public opinion.