The two 1/8 finals on the night of December 5, Beijing time, two Asian teams are playing at the same time, Japan time vs Croatia and South Korea vs Brazil. To be honest, Japan had more chances in these two 1/8 finals, while the power gap between South Korea and Brazil was too big. And so it was. Japan and Croatia played 1:1 in regular time. Because of Japan's hasty penalty loss, they regretted leaving the last eight and exiting the World Cup. In the first half, South Korea trailed Brazil 0:4 without any doubt, but Baek Seung-ho scored a goal in the second half.
Strangely enough, I don't know when we paid special attention to the matches between Japan and Korea! Why, why do we care about Japanese and Korean soccer now? (Especially in the World Cup)
1. Fans need to feel a sense of belonging too
Maybe it's an exciting goal, the charisma of a star's personality that makes you love soccer. You become addicted to the excitement of the five leagues, obsessed with the skills of the superstars, even as you begin to study the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques and tactics, imitating the various flowers of the stars on the pitch! Your persistence slowly gives you a feel for soccer, and when a generation of stars retires, your youth fades. However, your favorite team has always existed, and it has become a wonderful anchor to your past!
But as time goes by, you realize that the big five leagues and superstars no longer ignite your excitement for soccer. Instead, national soccer teams play well enough to make you curse while watching! Maybe there is a Chinese Super League team in your city and that will be the reason you keep following soccer. As we grow older, we realize that what we see is not just soccer, but an emotional attachment!
While Japanese and Korean soccer are not our own, there are many stories between them and national soccer. We can't help but follow them, both in space and in time! It's like wandering for years. Although we don't have family and friends in our hometowns, we feel very close to them when we can return to the city they belong to.
2. Japanese and Korean soccer is worth watching
In this year's World Cup, Japan first beat Germany 2:1, then Spain, and then South Korea beat Portugal 2:1. Japanese and Korean soccer have been ostensibly quiet for the past two years, but have been consolidating their core. Look at the youth training of Japan and South Korea and the European players in both countries, and you'd think it's not unreasonable for Japanese and Korean soccer to win over top-tier powerhouses.
Japan's national team reportedly has as many as 19 European players, 13 of whom play in five leagues. Takumi Minamino (Monaco) 27, Yasutoshi Don (Vrabourg) 24, Kenyoung Kubo (Real Sociedad) 21, Lianita (Eintracht Frankfurt) 26, and Aero Endo (Stuttgart) 29, to name a few. May I ask which opponent such a dynamic and powerful team would fear? Make no bones about it, Japan's lineup can break up with any team, and in fact, they did.
Let's go back to South Korea, leading the way at 70 million. "Asia's No. 1" Sun Sung, Hwang Hee Chan (Premier League Wolves) 26, Lee Gang In (Mallorca) 21, Kim Minza (Napoli) 26, and so on! So it's not empty talk that South Korea beat Portugal.
Japan and South Korea are in a spurt of European players right now, with Japan relying on a multi-faceted approach and South Korea being a unique player to push the others. It's all based on solid and solid youth training systems in both countries, which is why their soccer talent can continue to be exported.
When we see Japanese soccer, which relies on its fast, accurate, ruthless and deft little techniques to amaze the audience, and South Korea's Sun Sung making a splash in the English Premier League! We have to ask ourselves, 20 years later, where have we gone? How could we have fallen behind?
---------- In this ups and downs of soccer, we just need to be spectators to see the booms and downs and enjoy the stories and passion that soccer brings!
