Japan suffers shock in Asian futsal

In the first two matches, Japan lost 2-3 to Kyrgyzstan and beat South Korea 5-0. They were forced to defeat Tajikistan in the final match today. Coach Kenichiro Kogur's players started as expected, opening the score in the 11th minute. But they could not maintain the result, being equalized in the 26th minute.

This result means Japan finished the group stage with four points, finishing third and eliminated. The two teams that qualified for the next round were group winners Tajikistan and second-placed Kyrgyzstan, both with five points.

The final whistle blew at the Bangkok Arena, and the Japanese players looked stunned. Many covered their faces with their shirts to hide their tears. In the stands, many Japanese fans also burst into tears. Japan not only became the former champion, but also failed to qualify for the 2024 Futsal World Cup.

Eight years ago, Japan - then the defending champion - unexpectedly lost to Vietnam in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup, thereby being eliminated. Meanwhile, Vietnam won a ticket to the World Cup for the first time.

Japan's difficulties were predicted before the tournament. During the preparation, they lost two stars due to injury, Arthur Oliveira and Kazuya Shimizu. In particular, the absence of striker Shimizu caused the attack of the Japanese team to stagnate, finishing without sharpness despite creating many opportunities.

In today's match against Tajikistan, Japan also completely took the initiative but lacked a sharp striker to convert the opportunity.

Despite the power-play in the final minutes, Japan was still deadlocked. This match also witnessed a record time of watching the VS (VAR) technology of the referees. With only 14 seconds left in the match, the referees, including Mr. Nguyen Quoc Dung of Vietnam, had to stop the match five times to review situations such as whether the ball had touched the hand or not, whether the goalkeeper punched the ball outside the penalty area or not, and whether the clock was counting correctly or not. After five reviews, a total of seven minutes, no errors occurred and the match ended safely in the indescribable joy of Tajikistan and the endless sadness of Japan.

Tomorrow, April 24, Vietnam will play Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals at 9 p.m. If they win, Vietnam will qualify for the World Cup. If they lose, the team will play a play-off to compete for the fifth Asian ticket.