“Blue Samurai” was lucky to not have to lose to the South American representative, when striker Enner Valencia missed the penalty in the 83rd minute. Ecuador played well and created more obvious scoring opportunities from Asia.
The Japanese team did not even promote their ability to control the ball, their old strength, when facing Ecuador. Coach Moriyasu’s team controlled 51% of the ball, launching 9 shots towards the opponent’s goal.
In the opposite direction, Ecuador attacked more effectively when there were 12 shots (4 on target) towards the opponent. Japan played far behind the convincing 2-0 victory over the US on September 23. This comes from the fact that coach Moriyasu changed the entire starting lineup of the team.
Ritsu Doan played well but could not help Japan overcome Ecuador.
Goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt, who is catching Sint-Truidense (Belgium) played impressively when he made many saves against Ecuador, especially saving Valencia’s penalty at the end of the game. Ritsu Doan is also another name that plays well in the Japanese attack. Freiburg’s striker showed that he is capable of competing for the starting position with Takumi Minamino or Kyogo Furuhashi, who did not score in this match.
Coach Moriyasu still has a lot of work to do with the Japanese team before the 2022 World Cup takes place. When having to shuffle the squad, the team from the land of the rising sun did not play smoothly and dropped much compared to the previous US confrontation. In the 2-0 victory over the US, the Japanese squad with many key names overpowered the North American representative.
At the tournament in Qatar in November, Japan will need to surprise if they want to progress through the group stage, when their opponents are Germany, Spain and Costa Rica respectively.
As for Ecuador, the South American team had a good match against Japan. They only had themselves to blame when Valencia, the striker playing for Fenerbahce, missed the penalty at the end of the game. Ecuador also once hit the ball on the post. Compared to the draw with Saudi Arabia on September 24, the South American representative played more advanced.
The two confrontations with Japan and Saudi Arabia will be an important test for Ecuador before the 2022 World Cup kicks off. In Group A of the 2022 World Cup, Ecuador will meet Qatar, Senegal and the Netherlands. If it overcomes host Qatar, also an Asian team with the same level as Japan and Saudi Arabia in the opening match, Ecuador has many chances to win one of the two tickets to the next round of the group.
Statistics after the game. Graphics: Minh Phuc.
Hong An – Zing.vn | 22:14 September 27, 2022
