In the hotly contested Asian Round of 12 World Qualifying Tournament, Japan beat China by a slim 1-0 margin for their first win of the group stage, and are now up to 4th in Group B rankings.
Facing this tough matchup, Isao Osako lamented, "This game was quite difficult, and at this stage of the season, every game is full of challenges, and today we finally won, and I hope the team can continue the winning momentum next month."
Junya Ito analyzed after the match, "Before the match I expected China to use a 5-back formation, so we had a countermeasure. There were holes in China's wingbacks, and I found openings for passes through my speed, and did a pretty good job on the defensive end."
Japan captain Maya Yoshida, on the other hand, had some reservations about the match, "I'm not completely satisfied with the process and the result of the match, but 3 points are the most crucial. In the first half we faced the full force of China's defense, while in the second half China switched to naturalized Brazilian players and the tempo seemed to be controlled by them, fortunately we eventually suppressed them."
