On April 17, in the first round of Group B of the U23 Men's Asian Cup and Olympic Preliminary Round, Japan's Olympic team beat China's Olympic team by a slim 1-0 margin. Today, the official website of the Japan Football Association (JFA) released the highlights of three players' post-match interviews, which featured insights from head coach Tsuyoshi Oiwa and player Jusei Matsuki.
Head Coach Tsuyoshi Oiwa said, "In the first half, we engaged in a tug-of-war with our opponents, and the players showed resilience despite great efforts from both offense and defense. After the halftime break, we quickly adjusted our strategy and solved the problem of not being able to create pressure on our opponents. Despite thorough pre-match preparation, we made decisive substitutions based on the actual situation on the field and a variety of factors. In our regular training, we focused on practicing scoring first, and this strategy was successfully implemented during the match."
Goalkeeper Reio Ogubo spoke with regret, "Unfortunately, we were one player short in the game. After Takaya Nishio was sent off, we did our best to fill the gap and tried not to concede any points. As a goalkeeper, I just wanted to do my best to guard the goal and gradually help the team by neutralizing dangerous situations. The three goalkeepers in our team usually learn from each other, and if someone leaves the field, they all work as hard as they can. I hope we improve together."
Defender Daiki Sekine confessed in an interview, "I am still inexperienced in international matches. This time on the field was a valuable experience for me. Although the match situation exceeded my expectations, my teammates still worked hard and showed their own characteristics in such a tense atmosphere. Despite the tough game, everyone on the field shouted loudly and fought with all their might, which made me feel deeply that I am in a good team."
It was good to establish the lead as early as possible," said striker Jusei Matsuki. We also had a plan to leave the field early in the game, so we weren't overly anxious. I am grateful to Fonki Yamada for creating the goal scoring opportunity for me, I just followed his passing route skillfully and watched the opponent's defender's position to score the goal. There were many more passive defense scenes for us during the game. When the marvelous pass comes, all you need to do is to deliver the ball to the opponent's goalkeeper's goal range."
