Japan U17 national team has lost its first match after losing to Argentina U17 national team with a score of 1-3 in the FIFA U17 World Cup 2023 Group Stage, Group D at Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, Bandung.
Furthermore, in the 8th minute, midfielder Santiago López broke through on the left side, and the last pass was kicked in by midfielder Valentino Acuña, immediately extending the lead to two points. After that, there continued to be periods where they were forced into a corner by Argentina, who were trying to overcome the situation with their individual strength, and even if they did steal the ball, they were unable to create an effective attack and were unable to finish the match.
With the score still 0-2 going into the second half, Japan sent Inoue Airen onto the pitch instead of Michiwaki. Japan entered the second half with momentum, and in the 50th minute, Takaoka, in front of the goal, met the last pass of Shibata, who was persistent on the right side and gouged with his right foot, and the ball hit the net. Takaoka’s second consecutive goal gave Japan one point back.
In the 64th minute, Argentina faced a crisis, but Goto, their guardian angel, stood in their way. He reacted well to Echeverri’s right-footed shot, which he brought into the PA and stopped with just his left hand, and he also showed an amazing reaction to block Lopez’s shot, which ran toward the spilt ball.
In the 72nd minute, Japan’s bench made a move and replaced Yoshinaga with midfielder Rakuto Kawamura. In the 33rd minute, Kosugi sent a cross that threatened the goal, but goalkeeper Heremias Florentin deflected it.
In the 83rd minute, MF Ryunosuke Yada (Shimizu Youth) was brought onto the pitch in place of Yamamoto. Japan approached Argentina’s goal in an attempt to equalise the score, but in the 87th minute, Kawamura pushed in with his body after receiving a corner kick, but a foul was committed before that, and the goal was ruled out.
After that, Japan struggled to create opportunities during the 10 minutes of stoppage time, but Japan could not score a second goal. On the other hand, Argentina scored a goal in the 90+9 minute, losing 1-3 and suffering their first tournament loss.
Credit Photo : FIFA
