Despite being at the top of the continental rankings and having players with extensive international experience, the Japanese national team, led by Hajime Moriyasu, faces a journey into the unknown in a series of World Cup qualifying matches against North Korea.
The Asian qualifiers resume on Thursday, with Japan hosting North Korea in Tokyo. Five days later, Japan will play in front of an almost exclusively North Korean crowd of 50,000 at Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Stadium.
A request by the Japan Football Association to move the match from the North Korean capital to a neutral venue was rejected by the Asian Football Confederation amid concerns over a lack of transparency in the operation, including visa and logistics information.
“There are probably a lot of unexpected things that will happen,'' said Japan national team coach Moriyasu. “We just need to be prepared.”
Japan scored 10 points in the opening two games against Myanmar and Syria in the second Asian qualifying round. After losing to Syria 0-1, North Korea beat Myanmar 6-1, and if they continue to win against North Korea, they will be guaranteed to advance to the third round as one of the top two teams in Group B. There is sex.
However, the Japan men's national team has not played in Pyongyang since 2011, when they lost to North Korea in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
The last time the men's national team was in Pyongyang was in 2019, when the visiting South Korean team complained of a lack of contact with the outside world and the hosts' overly physical approach.
When Japan defeated North Korea at the Asian Games in October, players from the losing team roughly treated the referee.
“I admit that the players were a little too excited during the match, but that's soccer,” North Korean coach Shin Yong-nam said at the time. “But conflicts are inherent in the game of football…I think our actions are acceptable.”
Coach Moriyasu has decided not to select forward Junya Ito, who was investigated by the police last year on suspicion of sexual assault in Osaka. Ito plays for Reims in France and scored the winning goal against Metz on Sunday.
“I tried to imagine what the environment around him would be like in Japan, but I didn't think it would be an environment where he could live in peace and play soccer,'' Coach Moriyasu said. “It wasn't just him. I didn't think the whole team could operate in peace.”
South Korea, aiming for its 11th consecutive World Cup appearance, also has issues to deal with.
The team's last game was a crushing defeat against Jordan in the Asian Cup semi-finals, which resulted in Jurgen Klinsmann being fired as head coach. Since then, a scuffle broke out during the tournament between star players Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in, which made headlines when Son Heung-min reportedly injured his finger.
Lee, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, drew heavy criticism on social media and later issued a public apology to team captain Son. Son then asked fans to forgive the young player. Interim coach Hwang Seong-hong selected both players for his first game as manager against Thailand in Seoul.
Hwang said, “I don't think this is just an issue between the two of us.'' “Everyone who was there, from the players to the coaches to the support staff, must take responsibility… We must all be prepared to atone for our mistakes in front of our fans.”
Asian Cup champion Qatar participated in the previous World Cup as the host nation, but had never qualified for the world tournament through qualifying. Qatar are determined to rectify that situation and are 2-0 so far in the second round of qualifying ahead of their match against Kuwait.
Australia and Saudi Arabia also lead the group with six points.
The Socceroos, who have qualified for the past five World Cups, will host Lebanon in Sydney and Canberra, while Saudi Arabia will play Tajikistan home and away.
The top two teams in each of the nine groups will advance to the third round. The automatic allocation to Asia for the 2026 World Cup has increased to eight.
__
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
