Limited call-ups from Europe. How will Japan face tough final round of Asian Olympic qualifiers?

The Japan U-23 national team, which is aiming for a place at the Paris Olympics, recently played its last friendly matches before the final Asian qualifiers for the Summer Games.

Go Oiwa’s side lost 3-1 to Mali on 22 March before beating Ukraine 2-0 three days later, ensuring one win and one defeat against two countries that have already qualified for the Olympics.

Yu Hirakawa (Machida Zelvia) scored the first goal against Mali early on, but Japan’s pressing was ineffective and they let their opponents take over the pace. The visitors equalised in the first half and then struck twice more in the second, and individually and as a team Mali overwhelmed Japan throughout.

In contrast, against Ukraine Japan, who made 10 changes from the first game, pressed well from the front against an opponent who insisted on building up from the goalkeeper. Their quick attacks after winning the ball were also smooth, and they outshot Ukraine 17 to one. Kein Sato (Werder Bremen) converted from a corner soon after the start of the second half, and a quick counter after Sato won back possession was followed by a sharp goal from substitute Satoshi Tanaka (Shonan Bellmare).

Japan recovered well from their defeat three days previously and won comfortably against a Ukraine side without their main man, but the road to Paris will not be an easy one.

Japan drawn in same group as South Korea, UAE and China

The U-23 Asian Cup, which also serves as the final Asian qualifying round for the Olympics, will start on 15 April. The qualifiers for all other continents have already been completed. Japan, which is in Group B, the most difficult of the four groups, must finish second or above in the group stage against South Korea, UAE and China to advance to the knockout stage. If they then finish in the top three, they will qualify for the Olympics. If they finish fourth, they will face a play-off against Guinea, the fourth-placed African qualifier.

Japan has participated in seven consecutive Olympic Games since Atlanta 1996, when they made their first appearance in 28 years. Previous qualifiers have always been tough, but this time the barrier to recruiting players is higher than ever before on account of more players now playing for European clubs.

Of course, there have always been young players playing in Europe. Takayuki Morimoto (Catania) in Beijing in 2008, Takashi Usami (Bayern Munich), Gotoku Sakai (VfB Stuttgart), and Yuki Otsu (Borussia Mönchengladbach) for London 2012, and Takumi Minamino (Salzburg) and Yuya Kubo (BSC Young Boys) at Rio 2016 were all already plying their trades in Europe during the final Asian qualifiers.

This time, however, the numbers are completely different. Five players from European clubs were called up for the two matches in March, including Joel Chima Fujita and Rihito Yamamoto from Sint-Truidense VV. However, it wasn’t possible to call up Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad) or Zion Suzuki (Sint-Truidense VV), who both played at the Asian Cup for the full national team earlier in the year, while it was also difficult to involve attackers such as Yuito Suzuki, who has been in good form for Brøndby IF, or Koki Saito and Shunsuke Mito from Sparta Rotterdam, all of whom are potential mainstays of the team. The squad for the final qualifying round looks as though it will be based primarily upon the members involved in the two recent games.

However, past qualifiers have always been tough and unforeseen circumstances can arise, including with regards to calling up players.  Those who have achieved results in the J.League and made their mark in the U-23 national team, such as goal-scorers Hirakawa and Tanaka, set-piece expert Fuki Yamada (Tokyo Verdy), and Ryotaro Araki (FC Tokyo), who created many chances, therefore provide welcome additions to the squad and should increase the competitiveness within the team to make Japan’s U-23s stronger.