In terms of the number of European players, Japan is by far overwhelming.
Of Japan’s 26 final entries for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, a whopping 20 are from the European league. 76.9 percent of the squads are from European leagues.
Four players who play in the English Premier League (EPL), including winger Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton and Hove Albion), central midfielder Endo Wataru (Liverpool), defender Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arnal), and Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town), were selected.
Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), a Spanish La Liga player, was also included.
There are also four players who play in the German Bundesliga, including Asano Takuma (Bohum), Doan Ritz (Freiburg), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), and Go Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Striker Ayase Ueda (Peyenoord) and defender Yukinari Sugawara (Alkmar) who are playing on the stage of Eredivisie in the Netherlands were also named.
There are also three players from the French Ligue 1. They are Junya Ito, Keito Nakamura (Reims) and Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco).
Strikers Daizen Maeda and Hatateo, who play for Scotland’s prestigious Celtic, also got a chance.
Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Hent), Goki Machida (Winion SG), and goalkeeper Zion Suzuki (Sintrauiden) from the Belgian league also joined the team.
As many as 20 European players were on board, including Morita Hidemasa, a member of Portugal’s prestigious Sporting Lisbon.
Only five players play in Japan’s J-League, and only six players belong to the Asian stage, including Shogo Taniguchi, a member of Qatar’s Alayan team.
When comparing the number of players in European leagues, the difference is evident. Of the 26 Korean players in European leagues, 12 are in European leagues, accounting for only 46.15%, or less than half. Instead, there are 11 players in the K-League, which is almost the same as the number of players in European leagues. Notably, the remaining seven players, except for Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Kim Ji-soo (Brentford), will all play in the K-League.
The difference is quality. Korea is second to Japan in quality and weight. World-class striker Son Heung-min (32) of Tottenham Hotspur is at a high level that no Japanese player can match. Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), who scored double-digit goals in this season’s EPL, and Lee Kang-in, who plays as a mainstay at French giants Paris Saint-Germain, are leading the team’s attack. 랭크카지노
No matter how good Kubo or Mitoma is, it cannot be said that they are better than the combination of Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan and Lee Kang-in. In addition, Mitoma was deployed, but it is unclear whether he will play or not as he is injured.
Korea even has Kim Min-jae, who is considered the best center back in the world. It is hard to say that Lee Jae-seong (Mainz 05) and Hwang In-beom (Turbena Zvezda) are also lagging far behind Japan.
South Korea and Japan are considered strong candidates for the Asian Cup. The two teams are more likely to meet in the final. If both Korea and Japan rank first in the group stage, they will not meet in the round of 16 to 4. First of all, just looking at the player’s entry, there is already a flame.