Korea’s overall career record against Japan and Korea was 79 with 42 wins, 23 draws and 14 losses. A friendly match with Japan has been held for 10 years since the confrontation in Sapporo, Japan in August 2011. Since 2011, Korea and Japan’s national team A have faced a total of four times, and all of them have been confronted only in the EAFF E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup), and Korea slightly advanced with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. However, the E-1 Championship was not a match between the two countries with the best abilities because Europeans were not able to participate due to schedule.
The Korea-Japan match held in Sapporo on August 10, 2011, can be seen as the last match between the two countries’ top-notch teams to date. But for us, it remains more intense only as painful memories. At the time, the national team led by coach Gwang-rae Cho suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat after consistently struggling against Japan. It was only 37 years since Japan was defeated by three points, so the so-called “Sapporo disaster” was attached to soccer fans.
In the Asian Cup semi-finals held earlier that year, Cho Kwang-Rae-ho lost to Japan after a penalty shootout and lost the championship, and was also completely defeated in a friendly match, remaining as the only team that has never beaten Japan. Since then, in the World Cup qualifiers and Asian Cups, the two countries’ matchups alternated each other, and there was seldom a chance to meet again.
For the Korean national soccer team, currently led by coach Paulo Bento, this evaluation match is expected to be a very important opportunity to check the performance before the actual match called the World Cup qualifier. Since last year, the Bento has had a hard time maintaining its competitive power as it did not have a chance to hit a normal A match in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) that hit the world since last year. As the World Cup qualifiers suffered a limping, last year’s Bento had a total of 4 matches (the official A match was played in the first and second round of evaluation matches with the under-23 Olympic team led by coach Kim Hak-bum and the evaluation match between Mexico and Qatar in Austria in November. 2 matches).
The World Cup qualifiers will resume in June. With 4 games left in the second qualifying round, South Korea won 2 wins and 2 draws (8 points, goals +10) to Turkmenistan (3 wins 2 losses, 9 points, goals +3), who played one lesser match in Group H of the Qatar World Cup qualifier. After that, it is in second place. As there is not much time to match hands and feet, it is urgent to increase the performance. The battle between Korea and Japan, where the players’ concentration and motivation increases, is expected to be a good opportunity for the Bento who needs an evaluation match as much as possible.
This exhibition of Korea and Japan, which can be held as an elite member, contains a number of important implications in addition to the goal of sulking in Sapporo 10 years ago. Along with Korea, Japan, a regular customer and competitor of the Asian Football World Cup, is likely to meet again in the final qualifier scheduled for September. The World Cup qualifying schedule is repeatedly postponed and lame by the influence of Corona 19, and the possibility that the final qualifier will change from the existing home and away to a tournament held in a neutral country is also being carefully discussed.
If the World Cup preliminary is changed to a single game, the possibility of a change is increased by leaving the power difference, so this is an unpleasant scenario for traditional strong players like Korea. It is also possible to draw a picture where strong teams such as Korea and Japan meet in the final qualifying round and compete for a trembling single-wood leg for advance to the World Cup. It is not bad to experience the pressure that will be experienced in the final qualifier through the big event of Korea and Japan.
It is also interesting to note that Bento’s’occupation soccer’ can also work in Japan with a similar style. Korean soccer has traditionally been against Japanese technology and pass soccer with a compression soccer that utilizes strong physical and speed. Market share and cuteness were often taken by Korea, which was carried even if it was less than Japan.
Ten years ago, coach Kwang-rae Cho tried to break away from the existing Korean soccer style and try to try Korean pass soccer (so-called cartoon soccer), inspired by the Spanish Tikitaka, which was popular around the world at the time, but was severely defeated in a head-on confrontation with Japan. I have been hard at work. Uli Stilike (2014-2018) from Germany, the longest-running command tower of the Korean national football team, also followed a similar train.
Coach Bento’s share of football has many resemblances to Cho Gwang-rae and Stilike in many ways. Although the win rate was high mainly against weak teams, the weakness of being too obsessed with market share, inferior in efficiency or lack of Plan B is also constantly being pointed out. For Bento, who was unable to show a cool look to defense-oriented weak teams in the second qualifying round, a confrontation with Japan, which is rare in Asia, where he can face equal strength and style, is a crisis and opportunity to verify his soccer philosophy.
The key to Japan and Korea also depends on how best both teams can operate. It is a concern that it is not easy for Europeans to convene in both countries. It is known that the list of Bento’s Korea-Japan War will be announced on the 15th. Here, it is a variable that the International Football Federation (FIFA) has issued a guideline that the club may refuse to convene if quarantine is required for more than 5 days after the national team is selected. The Korea Football Association has sent a letter of cooperation to European clubs, but it is unclear whether it will respond, and it is the same in Japan. If key players such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Hwang Eui-jo (Bordeaux) cannot join, the effects of Korea and Japan will inevitably be halved.
Beyond the A-match game, the safety of players and isolation from overseas expeditions are also important. The association had a dizzying experience of having a hole in quarantine after a major accident followed by one after another during an expedition to Austria last year. This time, the situation should not be repeated. In principle, the players had to quarantine for two weeks after the expedition evaluation match, but the Football Association agreed with the quarantine authorities for one week after returning to the Paju NFC team and applying the quarantine schedule for the remaining one week. It will be organized.
It is true that the political background and historical situation of both Korea and Japan are intricately intertwined. But sports are just sports. We look forward to seeing the players play a great match with the best power in the soccer game, which has been visited after a long time.
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