Big day for Asian football: Will Japan make history? – db a

“We want to overcome this hurdle now,” said defender Yuto Nagatomo ahead of the round of 16 against World Cup runners-up Croatia today, Monday (4 pm /).ZDF and MagentaTV). Coach Hajime Moriyasu said, “We Japanese are trying to improve Asian football. I think we are doing our best in this business.”

With victories over Germany and Spain, the pros are all around Eintracht Frankfurt Daichi Kamada I already managed two surprises in Qatar. “This Japanese national team is the strongest in our history in the World Cup. We are the team that participates the most in the World Cup. We will win, ”declared full-back Nagatomo, who was already in 2018 in the bitter 2: 3 match against Belgium in Russia.

In addition to Kamada, international class players include Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal FC) and Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), who have been rarely used until now. At the World Cup, it was the Bundesliga professionals who drew attention to themselves. Freiburg’s Ritsu Doan scored twice as a joker and captain, Schalke pro Maya Yoshida headed the defence, and Ao Tanaka of second-division side Fortuna Dusseldorf caused a German World Cup end with his goal against Spain. “Our individual players have improved since 2018,” said Moriyasu. If Japan misses out on the quarter-finals again, South Korea has a chance to keep Asia in the tournament until the quarter-finals against record world champions Brazil on Monday night (8:00 p.m.).