‘Five games without a win’ Korea’s mood is different from Japan’s, Germany’s, and Korea’s 14 points in three straight A-match wins
Unlike South Korea, who have faltered under Jürgen Klinsmann, Japan have continued their upward trajectory with another win over Germany.
After reaching the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, South Korea and Japan have utilized the A-Match period similarly. Geographically close to each other, they have hosted countries from other continents and alternated opponents at home in the March and June A-Matches. This time around, both teams are away from home in Europe.
But the results are different. South Korea hasn’t been able to replicate their World Cup momentum under Klinsmann. Aside from the controversy surrounding the coach’s remote work and off-field activities, the team is winless in five A matches. Despite having the best striker in Asia in Son Heung-min and the best defender in Kim Min-jae, they have only scored four goals and conceded six. South Korea is the only country that advanced to the round of 16 in Qatar that hasn’t won a game since the tournament.
Japan hasn’t changed its head coach since the World Cup, keeping Hajime Moriyasu at the helm. Like South Korea, they seemed to stumble in March, drawing 1-1 with Uruguay and Colombia, but have picked up momentum since June. South Korea thrashed El Salvador 6-0 in a 1-1 draw, and then bounced back from a 0-1 deficit with a 4-1 win over Peru.
They had a tough draw for their European tour in September, but they managed to win three straight games away from home. After scoring 10 goals in their previous two games, Japan cruised to a 4-1 victory over the hosts in a friendly at the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg, Germany. Junya Ito opened the scoring in the 11th minute of the first half, before Leroy Zane equalized in the 19th minute, but Ayase Ueda restored the lead just three minutes later. Takuma Asado and Ao Tanaka scored consecutive goals in the final minutes of the match to put Germany away. 바카라
It was a game that proved that the World Cup 2022 Qatar qualifying victory (2-1) was no fluke. While they still lost possession, their shooting record was better than their World Cup matchup. They had a 14-11 advantage in shots and a much better 11-3 advantage in shots on goal. If it weren’t for some brilliant saves from German goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, it could have been a much bigger win.
South Korea and Japan head into their second September A match in different moods. After training in London, England after the Wales match, Korea will travel to Newcastle on the 11th to face Saudi Arabia on the 13th in another attempt to get their first win. Japan will look to make it four wins in a row on the 12th in Belgium, where they will take on Turkiye.