Speedy Japan fall short to France at FIFA U20 World Cup

Japan has a long history of dominating World Cup matches, and then losing. Perhaps nothing compares to their 1-0 defeat to France in the round-of-16 at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Santiago.

Japan had 24 shots on goal — a tournament record for a scoreless team — and hit the frame at least three times. With luck, they could have won 5-0. But attackers such as Ryu Sato, Shunsuke Saito, Yuto Ozeki and Soma Kanda kept missing by narrow margins, especially in the first half, where speedy Japan looked like a contender to win the tournament.

But a hand ball in the final moments of extra time gave Lucas Michal a penalty shot, which he converted to help France advance to face Norway in the quarter-final in Valparaiso.

“They were better than us in every aspect of the game. But we were never beaten mentally and that’s why we converted the penalty,” said France’s coach Bernard Diomede after the game.  “At half-time we said that the game was going to turn in our favour at some point, that we had to stay solid as a team, and [we’d get] that bit of luck that sometimes decides matches. The gods were on our side today.”

For the Santiago crowd of 12,000 mainly cheering for Japan, and millions of Japanese soccer fans back in Japan, there’s plenty to cheer for. Like previous international teams, Japan’s youth played with skill and intensity. They look solid at the back, where bigger athletes such as Kazu Kita, Rion Ichihara and keeper Alex Pisano handled a burly French team. 

But like other Japanese teams, they often tried too hard to score, rather than calmly putting the ball in the net. The Japanese phrase “gambari-sugi” (trying too hard) applies to this young team.

It’s better than under-trying and under-achieving. Japan did well to win all three games in the first round, and they know that they should have beat European giant France. 

In the least, Japan looks set to dominate soccer in Asia for years to come, if they can score goals. That has long been Japan’s problem. 

words and images Christopher Johnson Globalite Media all rights reserved