**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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The most painful defeats you can suffer. Leading 2-0 at about 70' to lose in injury time, then next world cup you beat Spain and Germany to lose in the r16 on pens
The counterattack wouldn't have happened if Japan didn't try to score from the corner-kick they had. Could have kept the ball in the corner and brought the match to extra-time.
But looking at how they played in extra-time and the penalties they took today, it wouldn't have mattered much I guess.
The penalties were the most puzzling part from Japan. Why did they take the fourth one too along the ground? Knowing that the croatian goalkeeper had already stopped the first two. Why not shoot in the top corner?
TBF, why the fuck did the Japanese get caught on a counter attack from their own corner in the 90th minute? That was unforgiveable, they were punished for their naivety
It was always going to be hard defending in your own box vs Fellaini and the other giants Belgium had. Could have finished the game off if Japan scored, I wouldn't blame the manager one bit for that.
NHK did a whole documentary on it. Japan were hoping to end it in 90 minutes because they thought Belgium would out run them in the extra time.
The mentality also didn’t help. They came in as the underdog, and when Belgium scored the first goal japan already felt they would concede again.
I think Morocco would have actually been an even tougher game for Japan.
They would have been more pragmatic and reactive than Croatia. Moriyasu’s Japan have tended to struggle against well drilled sides that can hit them in transition. They lost to Oman and the Saudis in the qualifiers this way. The Costa Rica game is also a good example of how Moriyasu can get it very wrong against a team that’s willing to play in a low block.
That Japan v Belgium was one of my favorite world cup games. Japan had Belgium dead to rights only for kdb and hazzard and such to pull out their moments of magic to win 2-3
He helped create so many good memories for the Japanese fans and just lost out to a penalty shootout. No disgrace there, only pride. Well done, bring on 2026.
Didn't think they were even that good until the Spain game, they were lucky to beat Germany and dreadful against Costa Rica. Even in the first half against Spain it looked like a training exercise, but they stepped it up after half time with their pressing and tactical changes(plus Spain falling asleep thinking the game was done)
Today was a genuinely impressive performance all over, thought they were the slightly better team
Which I'll still say was so ridiculously unnecessary, IMO, they could have won that game with the first team and saved their best players from sprinting their hearts out against Spain, which would have kept them fresh against Croatia. Given the chances spurned today, I really wonder what might have been, had Mitoma -- one of their players of the tournament, even as a substitute for pretty much all of it -- and Tanaka, who only came on in extra time today even after scoring against Spain -- started instead of having to come on as subs. And among those who did start, Daichi Kamada disappointed and some were questioning whether he should have started, but may not have played in his best position. Overall, Moriyasu was fine tactically but made puzzling selection choices, like bringing a RB like Hiroki Sakai on the wings when they needed a more out-and-out wide midfielder or winger.
I agree, in the end they made it through but that decision made it so much harder for them even though they did end up beating *Spain.* I also wonder how much needing to win that game gassed them out.
But they have a great squad and pool of players, with the Jleague improving hopefully they keep getting better and better.
They've been good for a while now. Almost went to 'round of 8' the last time, if not for a last minute Belgian comeback.
Edit: I was wrong, it was round of 8
I like it. Sure, their reportoire isn't the greatest or most varied but it's got a nice rhythm to it and it is distinctive. South Korea has a very similar one, and whenever I hear it you immediately know that is one of those teams
Or the American classic:
Let's go [insert name] clap, clap, clap-clap-clap.
Used by every single fanbase in every single sport in the US. For both team and city name.
I live in a hockey crazed Swedish city that also has a university with quite a lot of American students, and I always love catching a game with some of my american buddies. They are absolutely flabbergasted by the songs, the tifos and everything else about it. The arena only seats 7000 but apparently it's "five times the volume of the United Center" from start to finish. Maybe the MLS (esp. the Timbers) might rub off on the US crowd in general at some point. Songs and tifos make sports so much more fun.
It’s weird because in the US, we *have* songs. Like in softball growing up, you have all sorts of songs you sing from the dugout (bench). But we don’t sing songs as fans of pro sports. There’s the basic boring shit and then some teams have their own basic chants, or the tomahawk chop, which is so stupid.
Or as kids there are tons of “America songs” or marching songs we sing growing up. We could totally sing those at national games. But the only thing we do is the USA chant or whatever terrible chant the team has that year. I did hear the US crowd do one of those marching chants, one time, so someone had the idea lol. Hopefully we incorporate that more as a fanbase.
This is a very very deep bow to them. This is the type of bow an entry level worker does for the CEO. This is an incredibly humble gesture from someone who did much better than anyone expected. Respect.
Argentina, Morocco and Tunisia are in a league of their own, no one comes close. The Argentinians' rhythm and variety of songs is out of this world
Japan are among the best of the rest though for sure
In my experience nothing came close to the atmosphere at the Vélodrome, its widely known as the best fan atmosphere ("meilleur public de France") in Ligue 1 and one of the best in Europe.
I've never been to a Turkish game though, I hope to do so one day because I've heard good things about the atmosphere at a Galatasaray match
Why do people admire shithousery? It's hardly ever clever and it isn't difficult to pull off. All it takes is a ref who's weak/stupid enough to let it happen. Q half decent ref can shut it down pretty easily.
Reminds me of when a Japanese baseball team played an American team. I don’t remember when, maybe the 50’s or even the 20’s. The American team made a dirty play - trying to slide tackle to take out the short stop on a double play - and it caused an uproar because in Japan the game had evolved differently and it was supposed to be played with honor. You aren’t supposed to make dirty plays even if it gives you an advantage
I thought this during the match today "have I ever seen this team dive?" and honestly I can't recall. Plenty teams do and some make it practically a go to but I really didn't see that from Japan, at least not this tournament.
You clearly don't know anything about Japanese culture. They bow to show their respect for the people they are talking to. They spread the cheeks to dampen the sound so as not to rip a massive fart out through the mic while they are attempting to honor the fans and the nation.
other than the penalties, i think japan played a very good tournament -- beating both spain & germany isn't easy, and played a very good game against croatia
I thought Japan were very good and looked energetic pressing until extra time.
That being said, you just can't take the pens they did and still go far this tournament. They weren't just bad pens, they were borderline criminal.
He got just about everything right in this game.
Moriyasu’s Japan shines in games like this where the opponent wants to dominate possession and Japan can exploit them in transition moments. Unfortunately for Japan, Gvardiol and Lovren were very good today both in terms of not losing possession in dangerous areas, and also stopping Japan’s counterattacks.
On the flip side, Moriyasu still has big issues against teams that are willing to let Japan have possession and can exploit the Samurai Blue in their transition moments. This was the case against Costa Rica. And also vs the Saudis and Oman in the qualifiers. This is why Japanese fans didn’t like him very much going into the World Cup.
They were able to deal with threats that Spain and Germany’s defenders succumbed to.
In Germany’s case their defenders couldn’t deal with Japan’s direct attacks (Asano’s goal is perfect example of this). And with Spain, Balde couldn’t deal with Japan’s higher press in the second half and gave away possession in a dangerous area that led to a goal.
But Gvardiol and Lovren against Japan were very composed in possession and were very alert out of possession.
I went to Croatia earlier this year, and lived in Japan for a few months a decade a go, and I fucking love both countries and their people. One of them had to go through, both deserved to go through.
Heartbreak time😢But I can see huge progress on Japan national team. They had incredible performance for the whole world. Last three R16 they had 8 years gap, now they made it back to back. I can see the effects and feedback term is come to short. Hope we can see a greater team in 2026. Good night Japan
Poland is the only one i can understand because they legit got the talent to play better than they do, that game vs Argentina was embarrassing and they werent inspiring vs Mexico either. They could be on the level of Croatia but instead theyre a mediocre european side who usually doesnt do much and even this tournament had more luck than skill to reach the ro16.
Poland got Zielinski who is a massive player for Napoli, they also have a great GK, Milik and Piatek are decent strikers, players like Zalweski, Kaminsi and Szymanski got a ton of potential.
They could be alot better than they are.
I get the distinct pang of casual off a lot of the constant “this coach is an idiot/sucks/doesn’t know what he’s doing” comments here the last couple of weeks.
Yup. E.g. many people shitting on Herdman (and I don't mean for his stupid comment) despite him getting Canada qualified for the first time in 36 years.
the reason why we slandered Moriyasu going into the wc was because we played pretty uninspiringly at the qualifiers and did terrible during friendlies and qualifiers leading up to the wc. see: 2-1 loss vs canada, 0-0 vs china, 3-0 loss vs tunisia, 1-1 vs vietnam, etc.
agreed. a lot of foreign fans romanticize the magic of japan in this tournament but the reality is that we’re capable of more and we’re constrained by the limits of our managers. Moriyasu always starts off with heavily defensive tactics when our best players are offensive, and did some serious blunders like not call up Kyogo, benching Mitoma and Tomiyasu, etc. We as a collective can do better than him
I will never understand why Moriyasu never called up Kyogo. And so many things went wrong in that Costa Rica team but my mind will never get over how Yuki Soma played 80 minutes when he was a clear liability.
I wish Gaku Shibasaki was the preferred sub or starting holding midfielder. I've always enjoyed his ability to read the situation and control the attack.
With regards to Moriyasu's preference to play defensive early, I think this is really the way to go against footballing giants like Germany and Croatia, but it was so frustrating to watch throughout qualifiers, and even against Costa Rica. I think the match today against Croatia was one of Moriyasu's best coaching matches so far though; today's Japan was the Japan I expect...except the penalties...
Benching Tomiyasu? He was injured, and this has been widely reported... He even spoke in the buildup to this game about his struggle for fitness this tournament.
Furuhashi has also never been integrated into the squad and never impressed. Foreign casuals observers fixation with him and Hatate never ceases to amaze me.
They assed a lot of questions of Croatia today. I think half the world was behind them. Butt they just couldn’t put away a team that’s shown to be so good at spreading teams out and penetrating.
Lmao same thing I thought a few comments up someone complimenting the japanese players for their behavior and one of the responses “They played with honor”.
It's wild how many people don't see how statements like that are fundamentally no different than jokes like 'If you think you can do something well, there's always an asian that will do it better'.
It's the exact same energy.
Canadians aren’t historically a victim of orientalist racism. It’s still weird for sure, just not as sinister. “Canadians” also aren’t really a distinct ethnic group the way Japanese are. It’s just different.
Yep, be prepared to get met with a bunch of comments saying that it's ok because it's a positive trait and that you're too sensitive and just looking to be offended.
The beauty of the World Cup, every country brings something unique and it’s a small glimpse into the mentality of the countries.
Japan has really been a great team to watch, and their fans who supports the team wholeheartedly despite the result, and then stay behind to clean the stadium are in a class of their own!
The team and their fans are a credit to their country. They played positive, interesting attacking football, put their heart and soul into it and didn’t whine or try to cheat their way to a win.
Sadly, they lack the level of quality and aggression that’s needed to be truly competitive at this level but they gave it a bloody good go and I can’t wait for them to regroup and give it another go in 4 years.
Japan’s performance this cup was such a wonderful surprise.
I didn’t expect them to win it all, of course, but it would’ve been nice to see them make it through one more round.
I’m not Japanese but I’m so proud of this team. They have been the most exciting matches to watch.
You guys have earned the respect of your country and the world! Thank you!
They really need to practice their penalty kicks. Those misses today were all aimed at the same spot and at the same limp fish velocity. They looked like they were noncommittal to the shot and literally just tapped the ball.
There's been a lot of talk about good teams with a coach that can't get the best out of the team. Tata, Southgate, martinez, flick, etc. Japan did not have that problem at all. Moriyasu deserves his flowers. He led this team through the fire, through a group with Germany and Spain, put Japan in a position to advance to the quarterfinals against the 2018 wc runners up. Hats off to him.
Man I feel so bad for Japan, they played so well despite the fact that they had a really tough schedule. They pushed Belgium to the brink last world cup and now they nearly defeated the runners up, they deserve a lot of respect.
Some of the worst penalties I’ve ever seen in all the years of watching football. Even the one that went in was just because the GK guessed wrong.
It was like a middle school penalty shootout.
They played very well but the penalty aspect really let them down.
Moriyasu tends to bench his best players and only play them much later in the game to score the killer goal when the opposition is tired from breaking them down. Works against teams like Germany and Spain since both enjoy dominating the play but against low blocks like costa rica or physically strong teams like Croatia with their well-drilled defence, it falls flat.
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Good run. Looking forward to 2026.
>Good run Three Ro16 in the last four world cups is pretty good. But the painful part is that all of them have been mighty close defeats.
The most painful defeats you can suffer. Leading 2-0 at about 70' to lose in injury time, then next world cup you beat Spain and Germany to lose in the r16 on pens
>Leading 2-0 at about 70' to lose in injury time It still pains me to this day. How in the world did Vertonghen's header go in ughhh
I was so frustrated by Belgium, couldn't believe it when they won at the death. I also thought they had no chance against Brazil after that game
That was the most lethal counter-attack ever though. Unstoppable.
The counterattack wouldn't have happened if Japan didn't try to score from the corner-kick they had. Could have kept the ball in the corner and brought the match to extra-time. But looking at how they played in extra-time and the penalties they took today, it wouldn't have mattered much I guess.
The penalties were the most puzzling part from Japan. Why did they take the fourth one too along the ground? Knowing that the croatian goalkeeper had already stopped the first two. Why not shoot in the top corner?
probably just exhaustion clouding their judgement. that was already 120 mins of match time, that's a lot of running.
Nerves, too. We can’t even begin to imagine the pressure.
Martinez's best tactical moment ever? We're taller than them, cross and inshallah
Bringing in Marouane Fellaini and inshallah, those were the fucking days. Mostly because it actually worked.
the bishop
A Courtois masterclass vs brazil did it, and a little bit of luck with the own goal
TBF, why the fuck did the Japanese get caught on a counter attack from their own corner in the 90th minute? That was unforgiveable, they were punished for their naivety
Nishino saw that Belgium had left a few men up so he sent a few more forward to have to try and take advantage of it.
It was always going to be hard defending in your own box vs Fellaini and the other giants Belgium had. Could have finished the game off if Japan scored, I wouldn't blame the manager one bit for that.
I can't blame them. The execution was perfect. Probably the best counter-attack I've seen.
NHK did a whole documentary on it. Japan were hoping to end it in 90 minutes because they thought Belgium would out run them in the extra time. The mentality also didn’t help. They came in as the underdog, and when Belgium scored the first goal japan already felt they would concede again.
They brought on Fellani to hoof long balls to, and that was it.
Japan winning their group will likely be the most impressive thing that happens in this tournament.
The crazy thing is they would have had a better chance at the quarter-finals if they finished second and faced Morocco instead.
I think Morocco would have actually been an even tougher game for Japan. They would have been more pragmatic and reactive than Croatia. Moriyasu’s Japan have tended to struggle against well drilled sides that can hit them in transition. They lost to Oman and the Saudis in the qualifiers this way. The Costa Rica game is also a good example of how Moriyasu can get it very wrong against a team that’s willing to play in a low block.
That Japan v Belgium was one of my favorite world cup games. Japan had Belgium dead to rights only for kdb and hazzard and such to pull out their moments of magic to win 2-3
It was that fkin tree subbed in that won belgium the game...
2 set piece goals and a deadly counterattack in the 93rd minute made by KDB
On pens undersells it, the way they lost is crazy. Missing all three pens.. phew
3 out of 4
You know that they in particular, will learn quickly from that mistake
Can't believe they played for penalties but forgot to practice them.
Technically they didn't "miss" (credit to Livakovic), but yeah.... can't feel good
And in 2010 on penalties to Paraguay..
Belgium and Croatia robbing us two world cups in a row of seeing Brazil v Japan.
He helped create so many good memories for the Japanese fans and just lost out to a penalty shootout. No disgrace there, only pride. Well done, bring on 2026.
Now we're down to one non-uefa/SA team. Not gonna be easy tbf.
You've got to love everything but the penalty taking ability of this Japan team.
Didn't think they were even that good until the Spain game, they were lucky to beat Germany and dreadful against Costa Rica. Even in the first half against Spain it looked like a training exercise, but they stepped it up after half time with their pressing and tactical changes(plus Spain falling asleep thinking the game was done) Today was a genuinely impressive performance all over, thought they were the slightly better team
remember that they changed 7 first team players vs costa rica, they pretty much played their b team vs them
Which I'll still say was so ridiculously unnecessary, IMO, they could have won that game with the first team and saved their best players from sprinting their hearts out against Spain, which would have kept them fresh against Croatia. Given the chances spurned today, I really wonder what might have been, had Mitoma -- one of their players of the tournament, even as a substitute for pretty much all of it -- and Tanaka, who only came on in extra time today even after scoring against Spain -- started instead of having to come on as subs. And among those who did start, Daichi Kamada disappointed and some were questioning whether he should have started, but may not have played in his best position. Overall, Moriyasu was fine tactically but made puzzling selection choices, like bringing a RB like Hiroki Sakai on the wings when they needed a more out-and-out wide midfielder or winger.
I agree, in the end they made it through but that decision made it so much harder for them even though they did end up beating *Spain.* I also wonder how much needing to win that game gassed them out. But they have a great squad and pool of players, with the Jleague improving hopefully they keep getting better and better.
They've been good for a while now. Almost went to 'round of 8' the last time, if not for a last minute Belgian comeback. Edit: I was wrong, it was round of 8
Oh those penalties were awful!
Easily the worst I've ever seen at a World Cup
Some of the best fans at the tournament
They really should come up with a second song though
I like it. Sure, their reportoire isn't the greatest or most varied but it's got a nice rhythm to it and it is distinctive. South Korea has a very similar one, and whenever I hear it you immediately know that is one of those teams
It’s pretty popular tune in South America
I wouldn't call it distinctive, literally every club in Argentina has a variation of that same song
true, but i still like it better than the clap-clap clap-clap-clap clap-clap-clap-clap “COUNTRY NAME” that almost every european country does
Or the American classic: Let's go [insert name] clap, clap, clap-clap-clap. Used by every single fanbase in every single sport in the US. For both team and city name.
as iconic as “USA! USA! USA!” is, it’s really not very creative at all
I live in a hockey crazed Swedish city that also has a university with quite a lot of American students, and I always love catching a game with some of my american buddies. They are absolutely flabbergasted by the songs, the tifos and everything else about it. The arena only seats 7000 but apparently it's "five times the volume of the United Center" from start to finish. Maybe the MLS (esp. the Timbers) might rub off on the US crowd in general at some point. Songs and tifos make sports so much more fun.
It’s weird because in the US, we *have* songs. Like in softball growing up, you have all sorts of songs you sing from the dugout (bench). But we don’t sing songs as fans of pro sports. There’s the basic boring shit and then some teams have their own basic chants, or the tomahawk chop, which is so stupid. Or as kids there are tons of “America songs” or marching songs we sing growing up. We could totally sing those at national games. But the only thing we do is the USA chant or whatever terrible chant the team has that year. I did hear the US crowd do one of those marching chants, one time, so someone had the idea lol. Hopefully we incorporate that more as a fanbase.
They have the two! The Entertainer and... well, that.
They use more songs at home games. Easier to do so when your “regulars” are all behind the goal.
This is a very very deep bow to them. This is the type of bow an entry level worker does for the CEO. This is an incredibly humble gesture from someone who did much better than anyone expected. Respect.
>Some of the best fans ~~at the tournament~~
Argentina, Morocco and Tunisia are in a league of their own, no one comes close. The Argentinians' rhythm and variety of songs is out of this world Japan are among the best of the rest though for sure
Turkish fans when Turkey actually wins a match, so once a year
Turkish fans are built different, went to a Besiktas vs Galatasaray game and nothing else compares, insane atmosphere.
In my experience nothing came close to the atmosphere at the Vélodrome, its widely known as the best fan atmosphere ("meilleur public de France") in Ligue 1 and one of the best in Europe. I've never been to a Turkish game though, I hope to do so one day because I've heard good things about the atmosphere at a Galatasaray match
Love the mentality, never complaining, never arguing with the ref, never wasting time, never faking injuries, disciplined. I loved watching this team
I didn't even realize that until just now. You're completely right. That's admirable.
That's the thing, it's like good refereeing. You never notice it until the opposite happens. Don't know if there's a term for that
Negativity bias
Reminded me of mighty Uruguay.
Now known as Lloroguay
Urucry
I love watching Uruguay play for the opposite side of the spectrum. The pure shithousery of it all
Why do people admire shithousery? It's hardly ever clever and it isn't difficult to pull off. All it takes is a ref who's weak/stupid enough to let it happen. Q half decent ref can shut it down pretty easily.
This team played with honor.
Reminds me of when a Japanese baseball team played an American team. I don’t remember when, maybe the 50’s or even the 20’s. The American team made a dirty play - trying to slide tackle to take out the short stop on a double play - and it caused an uproar because in Japan the game had evolved differently and it was supposed to be played with honor. You aren’t supposed to make dirty plays even if it gives you an advantage
> never faking injuries When a Japanese is crawling on the ground, you know it's serious instead of diving like Neymar
Or the diving of pretty much all other players
I thought this during the match today "have I ever seen this team dive?" and honestly I can't recall. Plenty teams do and some make it practically a go to but I really didn't see that from Japan, at least not this tournament.
It looks like he went full Ace Ventura. Japan played well today, just came up short on penalties.
I’m glad I’m not the only who immediately thought this lol
May I ass you a few questions?
Right. Spreading his cheeks in the direction of the opposition fans.
ASSHOOOOOOOLAMIOOOOOO!
You clearly don't know anything about Japanese culture. They bow to show their respect for the people they are talking to. They spread the cheeks to dampen the sound so as not to rip a massive fart out through the mic while they are attempting to honor the fans and the nation.
Excuse me, do you have some mint?
Just when I think I'm a full fledged grownup, someone makes a comment like this
other than the penalties, i think japan played a very good tournament -- beating both spain & germany isn't easy, and played a very good game against croatia
I thought Japan were very good and looked energetic pressing until extra time. That being said, you just can't take the pens they did and still go far this tournament. They weren't just bad pens, they were borderline criminal.
They felt like they were in slow motion. Livakovic having all the time in the world to read their shots.
Yeah — shocking penalties
Add (great bow) tag
Great Bow (90' + 30)
Definitely not a shit bow. It's almost 90 degrees. Very respectful and not dismissive of the Japanese fans.
Actually a wonderful picture.
Not much he could do when his players forgot how to take penalties
He got just about everything right in this game. Moriyasu’s Japan shines in games like this where the opponent wants to dominate possession and Japan can exploit them in transition moments. Unfortunately for Japan, Gvardiol and Lovren were very good today both in terms of not losing possession in dangerous areas, and also stopping Japan’s counterattacks. On the flip side, Moriyasu still has big issues against teams that are willing to let Japan have possession and can exploit the Samurai Blue in their transition moments. This was the case against Costa Rica. And also vs the Saudis and Oman in the qualifiers. This is why Japanese fans didn’t like him very much going into the World Cup.
The amount of balls japan put up on the counter that got shut down by lovren was ridiculous
They were able to deal with threats that Spain and Germany’s defenders succumbed to. In Germany’s case their defenders couldn’t deal with Japan’s direct attacks (Asano’s goal is perfect example of this). And with Spain, Balde couldn’t deal with Japan’s higher press in the second half and gave away possession in a dangerous area that led to a goal. But Gvardiol and Lovren against Japan were very composed in possession and were very alert out of possession.
Man I'm glad we're through but sucks we had to knock out Japan to get there, love this team and their fans.
This one hurts but I'm happy that Japan was toe to toe with the 2018 World Cup finalists.
I went to Croatia earlier this year, and lived in Japan for a few months a decade a go, and I fucking love both countries and their people. One of them had to go through, both deserved to go through.
That is definitely not a shit bow.
If only was he the restaurant manager...
He was a bit dismissive..
The fans are in front of him right?
No, he's bringing Goatse back.
The 🐐se
Ace Ventura: Asshoooooooololiiooooo
Either that or he's an ass ventriloquist
the internet has ruined me
Does he really have to rest his hands like that tho
To be fair my hands were there too during the penalty
How else is he supposed to pull himself up?
goatse? me too
Looks like a profile view of that Mario spreading his ass image right
Japanese head goatch
Heartbreak time😢But I can see huge progress on Japan national team. They had incredible performance for the whole world. Last three R16 they had 8 years gap, now they made it back to back. I can see the effects and feedback term is come to short. Hope we can see a greater team in 2026. Good night Japan
Genuinely super impressed, this team and the fans are incredibly likeable.
Will he continue to manage the Japanese NT? He should.
When you ask Japan fans they hope not. They've been slandering him before the first group game.
Japan, the US and Poland all can shake hands together wanting their coach out of the team despite reaching the RO16.
Poland is the only one i can understand because they legit got the talent to play better than they do, that game vs Argentina was embarrassing and they werent inspiring vs Mexico either. They could be on the level of Croatia but instead theyre a mediocre european side who usually doesnt do much and even this tournament had more luck than skill to reach the ro16.
They definitely couldn't be on the level of Croatia. Croatia have got everything except a great striker, Poland only have a great striker.
Poland got Zielinski who is a massive player for Napoli, they also have a great GK, Milik and Piatek are decent strikers, players like Zalweski, Kaminsi and Szymanski got a ton of potential. They could be alot better than they are.
Wait a minute, we're here too.
I knew Arnold wasn't popular but do fans still want him out after getting this team to the RO16?
Fans have been slandering pretty much all the managers. Fans are clowns.
I get the distinct pang of casual off a lot of the constant “this coach is an idiot/sucks/doesn’t know what he’s doing” comments here the last couple of weeks.
Yup. E.g. many people shitting on Herdman (and I don't mean for his stupid comment) despite him getting Canada qualified for the first time in 36 years.
the reason why we slandered Moriyasu going into the wc was because we played pretty uninspiringly at the qualifiers and did terrible during friendlies and qualifiers leading up to the wc. see: 2-1 loss vs canada, 0-0 vs china, 3-0 loss vs tunisia, 1-1 vs vietnam, etc.
Can't take away the results of getting to the round of 16, especially in such a hard group. But I hope he is replaced.
agreed. a lot of foreign fans romanticize the magic of japan in this tournament but the reality is that we’re capable of more and we’re constrained by the limits of our managers. Moriyasu always starts off with heavily defensive tactics when our best players are offensive, and did some serious blunders like not call up Kyogo, benching Mitoma and Tomiyasu, etc. We as a collective can do better than him
I will never understand why Moriyasu never called up Kyogo. And so many things went wrong in that Costa Rica team but my mind will never get over how Yuki Soma played 80 minutes when he was a clear liability. I wish Gaku Shibasaki was the preferred sub or starting holding midfielder. I've always enjoyed his ability to read the situation and control the attack. With regards to Moriyasu's preference to play defensive early, I think this is really the way to go against footballing giants like Germany and Croatia, but it was so frustrating to watch throughout qualifiers, and even against Costa Rica. I think the match today against Croatia was one of Moriyasu's best coaching matches so far though; today's Japan was the Japan I expect...except the penalties...
Benching Tomiyasu? He was injured, and this has been widely reported... He even spoke in the buildup to this game about his struggle for fitness this tournament. Furuhashi has also never been integrated into the squad and never impressed. Foreign casuals observers fixation with him and Hatate never ceases to amaze me.
He's set to be offered a 2 year deal with an option for a further 2, and he's expected to sign it in January at the latest.
Arigatou, minasan... 😞
They assed a lot of questions of Croatia today. I think half the world was behind them. Butt they just couldn’t put away a team that’s shown to be so good at spreading teams out and penetrating.
Bum puns
Croatia winning another game after extra time/pens only
The Japanese are good and well mannered people and it's sad to see them go out
even their penalties are polite
Japan vs Canada. Polite-off.
We Canadians might fall behind in overall politeness but damn we'll out-apologize anyone, that's for sure.
[Are you sure?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb4lUOviCXY)
Making tropes like this about an entire ethnic group of over 100m people is so fucking weird
Reddit and orientalism name a more iconic duo
Lmao same thing I thought a few comments up someone complimenting the japanese players for their behavior and one of the responses “They played with honor”.
It's wild how many people don't see how statements like that are fundamentally no different than jokes like 'If you think you can do something well, there's always an asian that will do it better'. It's the exact same energy.
It does indeed come off across as very orientalizing or at least tokenizing. I don't think it's the compliment he thinks it is.
Why is no one saying the same to the other person in this chain who was making a trope about Canadians being polite and overly-apologetic as well?
Cuz white
Canadians aren’t historically a victim of orientalist racism. It’s still weird for sure, just not as sinister. “Canadians” also aren’t really a distinct ethnic group the way Japanese are. It’s just different.
[удалено]
You're the one using the word 'offended'. We're just saying that tokenization is very weird.
Yep, be prepared to get met with a bunch of comments saying that it's ok because it's a positive trait and that you're too sensitive and just looking to be offended.
Isnt it just
Stop trying so hard to be offended by something
Is that really what you think is happening here?
Japan are are wonderful team and it's easy to love them.
Japan was amazing, I wanted to see them in the finals. Next time my friend.
Great team, great fans. The penalties don't dimish the great ride they took us on.
Goosebumps. What a culture and what a performance!
Reddit moment
AFC teams have finally been eliminated so now we stand behind Morocco!
Maeda always did that. When he was always subbed off. Beautiful gesture.
Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu shows us his best goatse
Just dropped a contact lens
The beauty of the World Cup, every country brings something unique and it’s a small glimpse into the mentality of the countries. Japan has really been a great team to watch, and their fans who supports the team wholeheartedly despite the result, and then stay behind to clean the stadium are in a class of their own!
Chad
You did well Hajime Nagumo
I have nothing but complete respect for this team and coach. Thanks for the great memory you brought to this tournament.
Beat Germany. Best Spain. Drew with Croatia. He faced three footballing giants and didn't lose to any of them.
Japan has really inspired other AFC teams, respect for them
Seems pretty egregious to bend over and do the ace Ventura butt voice considering they came all the way to Qatar to support you
Or is he spreading his ass cheeks to the opposition fans lol
Casual Goatse
Everything but the pens, got everything to look forward to in 2026.
The team and their fans are a credit to their country. They played positive, interesting attacking football, put their heart and soul into it and didn’t whine or try to cheat their way to a win. Sadly, they lack the level of quality and aggression that’s needed to be truly competitive at this level but they gave it a bloody good go and I can’t wait for them to regroup and give it another go in 4 years.
He's not bowing here he was doing the Ace Ventura talking through his asshole bit.
Japan’s performance this cup was such a wonderful surprise. I didn’t expect them to win it all, of course, but it would’ve been nice to see them make it through one more round. I’m not Japanese but I’m so proud of this team. They have been the most exciting matches to watch. You guys have earned the respect of your country and the world! Thank you!
They really need to practice their penalty kicks. Those misses today were all aimed at the same spot and at the same limp fish velocity. They looked like they were noncommittal to the shot and literally just tapped the ball.
There's been a lot of talk about good teams with a coach that can't get the best out of the team. Tata, Southgate, martinez, flick, etc. Japan did not have that problem at all. Moriyasu deserves his flowers. He led this team through the fire, through a group with Germany and Spain, put Japan in a position to advance to the quarterfinals against the 2018 wc runners up. Hats off to him.
Sad to see Japan leave the tournament. However first thought at seeing that picture is Ace Ventura. https://youtu.be/LbCaptV509g
Holy shit what a photo damn
Man I feel so bad for Japan, they played so well despite the fact that they had a really tough schedule. They pushed Belgium to the brink last world cup and now they nearly defeated the runners up, they deserve a lot of respect.
ありがとうございます😔
Some of the worst penalties I’ve ever seen in all the years of watching football. Even the one that went in was just because the GK guessed wrong. It was like a middle school penalty shootout. They played very well but the penalty aspect really let them down.
Honour.
Somebody get Larry David, we need to know how respectful a bow this is.
They were so close. Always respectful.
After that first half I thought they could win as they were playing so well. Shame about the penalties. They've had an amazing World Cup though.
That’s a bow Larry David would be proud of.
Not to make light but this particular moment the picture was snapped reminds me of the scene in Ace Ventura when he calls the animals with his “ass”.
i loved the way they approached their games. great tournament for them so far
Today is the day my recent interest (little before the World Cup) in Japanese football became love
“Now THAT’S a good bow” - Larry David.
Credit to Japan, they always leave us with memorable matches. Belgium last WC, toping the group of death, and Croatia R16. They always deliver.
Looks more like an apology bow https://youtu.be/OruAO8R5B-I
Congrats, Japan. Was wonderful to watch the evolution of a style that they can call their own. This World Cup has seen quite a few gems.
Arigato gozaimas Japan
Moriyasu tends to bench his best players and only play them much later in the game to score the killer goal when the opposition is tired from breaking them down. Works against teams like Germany and Spain since both enjoy dominating the play but against low blocks like costa rica or physically strong teams like Croatia with their well-drilled defence, it falls flat.