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On the 19th, the Japanese national team played against the Iraqi national team in the second round of the group stage of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, losing 1-2.
It was a battle for first place in the group between Japan, who won the tournament’s first match against Vietnam 4-2, and Iraq, who also won 3-1 against Indonesia. Japan’s coach, Hajime Moriyasu, made two changes to his starting lineup for the game against Vietnam, replacing Keito Nakamura and Masahiro Hosoya with Takefusa Kubo and Takuma Asano.
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Japan, who had an away atmosphere in the stadium as the match was being held in the Middle East, faced Iraq’s attack from the start, allowing them to take the lead in the 5th minute. Ali Jassim on the left side of the box sent a cross, which was punched by goalkeeper Ayane Suzuki. The ball that flowed in front of the goal was headed in by Aymen Hussain, giving up an early goal.
Japan, who were behind, stepped up from this point and counterattacked. They aim for an equalizer by taking advantage of Junya Ito’s speed on the right side and Asano’s ability to sneak through from the front. In the 31st minute, Asano passed to the left of the box from Kubo’s through ball and chose to shoot while Ito was running in front of him. However, this shot fails to hit the target.
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However, Japan recovered again towards the end of the first half and conceded a goal in the 4th minute of stoppage time. When he received a cross on the left side from the counter, he was able to head it in to Aymen Hussain in front. GK Suzuki made a touch, but he was unable to convert the ball, conceding his second goal and ending the first half.
After halftime, Coach Moriyasu replaced Shogo Taniguchi with Takehiro Tomiyasu, who had recovered from an injury. As the tough battle continued as in the first half, in the 56th minute, Ito broke through on the left side and delivered a cross, which knocked down Asano in front of him, earning him a penalty kick. However, this was canceled as a result of VAR.
Japan is increasing their emphasis on offense by introducing Ritsu Doan and Kiyo Ueda. Coach Moriyasu sent out Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda and changed the lineup to 4-1-4-1 in an attempt to score a point, but Iraq continued to play tight defense. In the 3rd minute of added time in the second half, Wataru Endo from the far side hit a header from a left CK kicked by the flag bearer to give them a point, but that was the end of their counterattack. Despite their fierce attack in the final stages, they were unable to match, and suffered a 1-2 loss.
In Group D, Iraq now advances to the final round with two consecutive wins. Japan, whose winning streak since June last year came to an end at 10, will then face Indonesia in the final round of the group on the 24th.