Japanese players confident of defeating Vietnam without needing penalties
Midfielder Yuta Kamiya affirmed that he and his teammates will settle the final match of Group D within 90 minutes of play.
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Yuta Kamiya and his teammates are training in major tournaments to prepare for the 2020 Olympics at home. |
“The victories over Nepal and Pakistan have helped Japan secure an early ticket to the next round. But our goal is still to win the final match of the group stage. We want to beat Vietnam in the official 90 minutes of play. We will definitely win,” midfielder Yuta Kamiya shared.
Japan and Vietnam have both qualified for the round of 16 of the 2018 Asian Games men's football. The match between the two teams is only to determine the first and second place in Group D. Because they both have 6 points, scored 5 goals and conceded no goals, the two teams will have to decide the winner by penalty shootout if they are tied after two halves.
In the opening match, Japan dominated the game, creating many chances but only scoring one goal against Nepal. However, in the second match, the team from the land of the rising sun played better, easily defeating Pakistan 4-0 despite not giving their all. In that match, Yuta Kamiya started in midfield.
“We clearly played better in the second match than the first. Things are improving gradually. We will play even better in the next match,” added Yuta Kamiya.
Kamiya is 21 years old this year. This player belongs to Shonan Bellmare but is currently playing for Ehime FC in J-League 2 on loan. Kamiya is familiar with the current generation of Vietnamese players as they competed together in the 2018 AFC U23 Championship. In this tournament, Japan lost 0-4 to Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals. Uzbekistan were also the opponents who defeated Vietnam 2-1 in the final match with the winning goal scored in the last minute of the second extra time.
While Yuta Kamiya is confident that he will defeat Vietnam, his coach, Hajime Moriyasu, is cautious. The coach said: “Vietnam is a strong team in this tournament. They have a better squad as they won the silver medal at the U23 Asian Championship. We cannot be complacent. Japan always tries their best in every match, playing with all they have. We will prepare carefully for the match with Vietnam.”
