FIFA FOOTBALL WORLD CUP QATAR 2022 - NEWS BLOG - UPDATE 10

 GERMANY ELIMINATED FROM THE FIFA FOOTBALL WORLD CUP QATAR 2022

KAMADA Daichi: "I really don't understand football" World Cup match against Spain

The Japan of Group E of the first round of the World Cup Qatar defeated Spain 2-1 on Sunday (2 Japan hours) to advance to the final tournament for the second consecutive time. KAMADA Daichi (Eintracht Frankfurt), who started all three matches of the first round, expressed his feelings, saying, "I really don't understand football." The main comments are as follows.

I'm glad we got the result.

――How did you feel after the match?

We believed in ourselves. It was a really difficult match against a very difficult opponent, but I'm glad we were able to get this result.

――You were attacked quite a bit in the first half, but how did you correct it in the second half?

◆That's what the current Japan is aiming for, persevering in the first half, being OK at 0-0, and 0-1 is not bad. It's a difficult game for the players up front, but that's the way the team does it, and every game we switch back on in the second half.

Everyone on the team has done what they have to do, and that has led to results. That's the reason why it's working now.

――The first half must have been very stressful.

If it is 0-2, I think the chances will be much lower, but if it is 0-1, everything will change again. I think it's really important to keep the goals conceded at 1 in a tournament like this.

――Kamada is the only frontline player who has started three consecutive games.

Of course, I'm very happy to be used in three matches, and I'm very happy because I wasn't in that position until the last minute of the World Cup, but all three matches were difficult matches. Right now, I have to play for the Japan national team, not for myself but for the Japan. I think we have been able to do the minimum that, so we will continue to do so.

――What do you think after finishing first in the first round?

◆I really don't understand football. Especially in the World Cup, a big tournament that takes place once every four years, I felt that no matter how good we played, the result was everything.

DAICHI KAMADA - THE JAPANESE FOOTBALL PLAYER

Taniguchi Shogo, who started for the first time: "I was confident that I could do it" Soccer World Cup

The Japan of Group E of the first round of the World Cup Qatar defeated Spain 2-1 in the final match of the first round on 1 June (early morning of Japan time) to advance to the final tournament in first place. TANIGUCHI Shogo (Kawasaki Frontale), who started the match for the first time in the World Cup, was delighted, saying, "I was confident that I could do it if I played." Here are his main post-match comments:

I was nervous, but I calmed down and got into the game

――First World Cup start. Great job done.

I was prepared for any chance that would come. I was on the pitch for the first time today. Of course I was nervous, but I was able to enter the game calmly.

――Trailing 0-1 into the second half.

◆ Anyway, I thought that I would have another chance to rearrange the partition and be patient. The members took over, and Ritsu (Doan) entered. Ritsu can use his time (holding the ball) and Kaoru (Mitoma) is a wing-back, but he has to stay as high as possible. I think we were able to make the most of the characteristics of our players as a team.

――Doan scored the equaliser right after the start of the second half.

◆Ritsu's shot went in, and I really felt that our atmosphere changed as well as the atmosphere that reminded us of the match against Germany. I thought this would work.

――About your first appearance.

◆I was confident that I could do it if I came out. As for my characteristics, I felt from the start that I can make passes to my teammates while watching the opponent closely, regardless of whether the opponent is Spain. I thought all I had to do was do it with confidence.

――You connected the passes in the first half.

◆When it comes to defensive games, everyone really wants time for their own balls and to make time for themselves to move the ball.

So I was thinking about who I should put the ball on after I took it. But we were quick to get the ball back and attack again, but we did what we could. Even if we were robbed again, we had to be patient again and I think we all played 90 minutes.

Germany, eliminated from the first round of the World Cup, are disappointed at home and surprise by Japan's performance

At the World Cup in Qatar, Germany, a four-time champion of the previous two tournaments throughout his time in West Germany, were eliminated in the first round for the second consecutive time, which caused widespread disappointment in Germany and surprise at the performance of the Japan national team.

The German newspaper Bild (electronic edition) reported on the German national team's first-round defeat with the headline "How embarrassing". "Germany used to be hailed as a 'knockout' team, but now it's just the 'dwarf' of football," he said. "We knew it couldn't get any worse after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and today we knew it could get worse," he summed up. Germany was eliminated in the first round for the first time in their history in the 18-year tournament.

On the other hand, the German magazine Der Spiegel (electronic edition) headlined "Japan shocks Spain and Germany" and pointed out that "Germany's elimination was due to the sensational victory of the Japan national team." German public broadcaster ARD also analyzed that Spain initially dominated the match and that "there was no factor that seemed Japan win," and praised the effect of Japan's use of Kaoru Mitoma and Ritsu Doan as "amazing."