Doha, Qatar: Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu is confident his Samurai Blue will be up to the mark when they will take on a solid Bahrain side in their Asian Cup last 16 clash at Al Thumama Stadium today.
Japan came to Qatar as hot favourites to win a record-extending fifth crown but they struggled to live up to the expectations, finishing runners-up in Group D after suffering a shock defeat to Iraq. They also conceded goals against Vietnam and Indonesia as the lower-ranked sides made them sweat for wins.
Hajime Moriyasu, Japan coach
The team that started their Asian Cup campaign on the back of a run of nine straight victories including a win over Germany drew a lot of flak back home for their performance that has so far lacked the usual fluency in addition to the defensive deficiencies.
But Moriyasu sees the criticism as a “sign of respect” as he remained optimistic of a better show from his side.
Japan players during a training session.
“It’s a sign of respect for us when people say we are struggling because that shows we have high expectations placed on us. People know that we can play better,” the coach, who led Japan to victories against Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup, said yesterday.
“But Asian teams are growing, not only us. All Asian countries are growing and getting more competitive and the gap between the top teams and the lower teams has been cut.”
Bahrain's players train ahead of the Round of 16 clash.
The 55-year-old said his team’s defence was not under pressure ahead of the knockout stage after conceding five goals in the first phase.
“We have to learn from our mistakes in the first three games but that doesn’t mean we have any worries about our defence for tomorrow’s match,” he said.
Juan Antonio Pizzi-coached Bahrain emerged as surprise winners in Group E ahead of South Korea, beating Jordan and Malaysia after losing to the Taegeuk Warriors in their opening game. Bahrain have fond memories in Qatar where they claimed their maiden Gulf Cup title after defeating Saudi Arabia in the final in 2019.
Moriyasu rated Bahrain tough opponents but he was confident his players will excel in the challenge.
“Bahrain are a strong side so we have to be careful of their attacking play, but I’m confident my players will play up to 100 percent of their potential. Bahrain are a very talented side.
Juan Antonio Pizzi, Bahrain coach
"They have individual talents, but also they can work as a team, as a unit. They are strong as a team, they can not only counterattack but they have also talented players up front who can play good football.”
The Samurai Blue have won five of their last seven games against Bahrain with Pizzi hoping team’s recent experience of playing against South Korea and Australia will help the side in the contest against higher-ranked rivals.
“Japan are a tough team with a lot of strengths but they have weaknesses that we need to exploit in order to be able to come out on top. Hopefully, we will be able to implement our philosophy,” said the Bahrain coach, who lifted the Copa America with Chile in 2016.
“We learned a few lessons from the game against Korea Republic and before the tournament we also played Australia (losing 2-0).
"When you compete against big national teams this makes the team stronger collectively and individually. Unfortunately the results of these two matches were not up to our expectations but we still felt comfortable because the level was high and it reassured us that we can compete against anybody.”
The winners of the match, which will begin at 2:30pm, will face Iran or Syria in the quarter-finals.
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Bahrain will be on a mission to end Japan's dream of a fifth title when they meet in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Round of 16 today. Bahrain advanced to the knockout stage as the Group E winners while Japan finished as the Group D runners-up, having suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Iraq.
Japan in front
Japan have won five of their last seven encounters against Bahrain, including a 2-0 victory in their most recent meeting (March 2010) and won 4-3 after extra time in their only previous match at the AFC Asian Cup - in the semi-finals of the 2004 edition.
Extra-time experts
Three of Bahrain’s four previous knock-out stage games at the AFC Asian Cup have gone to extra-time with the West Asian side losing two of those games and winning 4-3 on penalties against Uzbekistan in the other.
Knock-out stage specialists
This is the ninth time that Japan have progressed past the group stage at an AFC Asian Cup; only twice from their previous eight attempts have they lost the first game in the knockout stage of the tournament (0-2 vs Kuwait in 1996, 1-1 (5-4 on penalties) vs UAE in 2015).
Aerial prowess
Bahrain duo Abdulla Yusuf Helal (15) and Abdullah Al Hashash (13) won more aerial duels during the group stage than any other players to feature in Group E of the tournament.
