In the opening round of Group E, Japan defeated Germany by a score of 2-1, and Germany got four time world champion. It was Asia’s second World Cup victory after Saudi Arabia beat Argentina with the score of 2-1. It is appropriate to congratulate the Japanese team on their victory. However, the reporter was remarkably calm because Germany’s loss was completely different from Argentina’s the day before.
The German team didn’t kill the match early enough
Germany actually completely dominated Japan in the opening period of the match. The Germans were in complete control after that, despite a few early errors and even a disallowed offside goal by Japan on the counterattack.
After the second half of the match began, Fuan Jianyang took the place of Jiubao Jianying, changing the first half’s formation from 4231 to 532. However, the result was less than ideal, and Germany continued to suppress Japan. Germany also had numerous opportunities to increase their lead, but they consistently missed them. The Japanese team now had a chance to respond.
The fact that so many players from Japanese football play in European football should serve as evidence that the sport has improved over time. The Japanese team’s strength is also demonstrated by the way they took advantage of two opportunities after replacing two players, scoring two goals in quick succession. From 26 shots on goal and 8 of them were on target, Germany managed just one goal in the end. In contrast, Japan had 11 shots with three of them being on target, resulting in two goals. To put it mildly, each of Germany and Japan played a good portion of the game, but Japan ultimately prevailed.
Chinese envy Japan, just for football performance?
Japan should be commended for capturing the second Asian World Cup victory. After all, Asian football is generally considered to be of a low level globally. The domestic response to Japan’s victory can be described as a mixture of “envy and hate,” without even mentioning the further denigration of Chinese football. However, everybody is very clear that the Chinese simply envy the performance of Japanese football, not the football itself.
How did Japanese football develop over the years? The “craftsman spirit” is one of the core concepts. All football players, from the Japan Football Association to ordinary players, are resolutely moving in the same direction and are united in their pursuit of that goal. Therefore, the prevailing opinion has been to “Learn Japanese football” over the years. However, everyone in Chinese football team, prefers “quick results”. Therefore, it is impossible to produce “craftsmen” in the realistic environment of Chinese football team. Everyone believes that the only metric is “money.”
As a result, when we discuss Japanese football, we tend to focus on its successes and bright spots rather than taking the time to consider how far the sport has advanced over time. In order to integrate football into the lives of Japanese people, Japan football was professionalized in 1993. As a result of China’s repeated failures to win the World Cup, the country established the professional league in 1994 with the intention of using it to get Chinese football into the World Cup.
Over the past 30 years, Chinese and Japanese football have taken two very different paths as a result of their very different motivations and objectives. The top Chinese football administrators previously served terms of at least four years. Now, the top positions are changed roughly every two years.
Why then do I not envy Japanese football? From June 1989 to June 2008, when he resigned as the president of the Japan Football Association, Saburo Kawabuchi presided over the country’s newly founded professional league. He oversaw Japanese football for a total of 17 years, and it took exactly 17 years from the start of professional football to get things back on track. Failures occurred during this time, but Japanese football remained unflappably under his direction. Japanese football is so good today because of this.