Japan's journey to the last eight of the Asian Cup came to an abrupt end on Saturday with an unexpected 1-2 defeat against Iran. After the match, Blue Samurai boss Mori Baoichi bravely took the blame for the defeat, admitting that he made mistakes in substitution strategy and encouraging his team to look to the future and prepare for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
As a four-time Asian Cup champion, Japan was considered the favorite to win the tournament, but ended up in the last eight, a result that left many fans frustrated. Some Japanese netizens bluntly said that the current "Blue Samurai" overall performance deviated from the trajectory, completely lost the Japanese team's unique style of soccer, but also that the game with Iran is their worst performance. Immediately after the game, Mori Baoichi called the team circle, to review the game.
