{"id":23286,"date":"2022-12-07T08:24:42","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T08:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/japan-south-korea-defeats-end-world-cup-dreams-for-asian-teams"},"modified":"2022-12-07T08:24:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T08:24:42","slug":"japan-south-korea-defeats-end-world-cup-dreams-for-asian-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/japan-south-korea-defeats-end-world-cup-dreams-for-asian-teams","title":{"rendered":"Japan, South Korea defeats end World Cup dreams for Asian teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>Japan\u2019s penalty shootout defeat to Croatia followed by Brazil\u2019s solid 4-1 win over South Korea have ended Asian hopes at the World Cup in Qatar. The earlier loss by Australia to Argentina in the group of 16 knockouts means that all three Asian Football Confederation teams have now been eliminated in the first knockout round of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

But the Samurai Blue and the Taegeuk Warriors have much to be proud of, not least Japan\u2019s shock upsets in winning matches against European heavyweights Germany (2-1) and Spain (2-1) in the group stage, and South Korea\u2019s stunning 2-1 win over Portugal.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s Nikkei Asia news organisation had described Monday\u2019s games as \u201cone of the biggest nights in Asian soccer for two decades\u201d and South Korea\u2019s Yonhap news agency wrote of the unlikely journey of the national team to the knockout stage of the World Cup in what had become a \u201cmemorable underdog story\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, both intrepid campaigns came to an end as the East Asian footballing giants were unable to progress to the quarter-finals. Japan have been to the first group-of-16 knockout round three times in six trips to the World Cup finals but have never gone any further, a state of affairs Japan\u2019s coach Hajime Moriyasu had committed his players to rectifying in Qatar despite a tough draw in the group stage.<\/p>\n

As group winners in Qatar and defeating two former world champions in the process, Japan went through to face a streetwise Croatian team on Monday and after 120 minutes of play and a 1-1 draw, the Japanese faltered and went down 3-1 on penalties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the regret we feel with this loss will lead to something better in the years to come,\u201d said fullback Yuto Nagatomo, who was playing his fourth and probably final World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to show the Japanese people\u2019s fighting spirit. It was difficult to lose but Japanese football is without a doubt, making progress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Coach Moriyasu tried to soften the blow of another knockout loss, saying the team had entered a \u201cnew era\u201d. \u201cWe cannot be superheroes in one go,\u201d Moriyasu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to improve step-by-step. But Japan is reaching a level where we can play on the world stage. \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese players can look eye-to-eye with anyone now and take confidence in who we beat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Moriyasu had addressed his team at the centre of the field after their loss to Croatia. Many players slumped on the ground, others cried, and everyone consoled anyone within reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the result was not what we expected, I told them (the players) that it doesn\u2019t negate everything they did,\u201d Moriyasu said later.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we could not break through the round of 16 and see a new landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201d Moriyasu praised the Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic who stopped three penalty shots by Japan in the shootout.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to accept this result,\u201d the coach said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut whether we succumbed to pressure, I don\u2019t think so. I think the goalkeeper was great. \u201d<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda addressed the failure directly. \u201cWe came up short,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did everything we could the last four years. \u201d \u2018They gave everything\u2019<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s Son Heung-min \u2013 a superstar from the United Kingdom\u2019s Premier League and the best Asian player in the world \u2013 said his team \u201cgave everything\u201d in the battle against Brazil, but it was not enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrazil is the favourite, look at their players.<\/p>\n

If you give them spaces they score,\u201d said Son, who recovered in time from an eye socket fracture to feature in Qatar, wearing a mask to protect his face during matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of what we\u2019ve done and I don\u2019t want to blame any of our players because they gave everything,\u201d he said. As co-hosts of the World Cup with Japan in 2002, South Korea had reached the semi-finals under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink. That year the side and went down in football history as the first team from outside Europe and the Americas to reach the last four.<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s Portuguese coach Paulo Bento had moved to temper expectations even before the first game in Qatar, not wanting to burden his side with the pressure of having to qualify for the knockouts after three group stage exits at previous World Cup tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe our participation at the World Cup has ended in a very fair manner,\u201d Bento said after the Brazil match, where he also confirmed that he was leaving his role as the Korean team\u2019s coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to thank them for everything, they gave their best. I have been proud to be their manager,\u201d said Bento, who had been in his position since 2018. Though their dreams of a World Cup win have ended, South Korea\u2019s supporters said they were proud of how far their team had come.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. Japan\u2019s penalty shootout defeat to Croatia followed by Brazil\u2019s solid 4-1 win over South Korea have ended Asian hopes at the World Cup in Qatar. The earlier loss by Australia to Argentina in the group of 16 knockouts means that all three Asian Football Confederation teams have now been eliminated in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,245,241,514],"class_list":["post-23286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nJapan, South Korea defeats end World Cup dreams for Asian teams - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/japan-south-korea-defeats-end-world-cup-dreams-for-asian-teams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan, South Korea defeats end World Cup dreams for Asian teams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Mauritius. 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