There has been more action-packed football in The AFC Asian Cup last night saw a few shock defeats but none other quite like the Japanese game against Iraq, where Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu was finally named in the match day squad and Arsenal fans were excited to see what he could do after being out for an extended period of time.
Tomiyasu didn’t start the match against Iraq, but he made the bench. Tomiyasu has obviously been recovering for an injury at club level that’s seen him miss out of a few games for Arsenal lately, but Arsenal fans would have been delighted to see the talented defender named in the squad after a worrying time out for the defender.
Japan have been in incredible form recently and are probably one of the main favourites to walk away winners of the AFC Cup, but last night they were handed a shock of a lifetime and were humbled by a young, somewhat unknown, Iraq team.
Iraq scored an early goal in the 5th minute that saw the stadium go wild and Japan were caught napping in the box and Hussein was in the right place at the right time to head the ball into the back of the Japanese net. Poor defending and tracking on Japan’s behalf and I could help but feel they were screaming out for a player like Tomiyasu.
Just before half time, Tomiyasu was spotted warming up and it was clear that bringing him on war a clear plan for the Japanese manager and maybe he should have just bit the bullet and done it sooner because Iraq managed to get another goal just before the break, another header into the goal, not tracked by the defender and put Japan in a very difficult position going forward.
Tomiyasu was brought on in the second half and make an instant impact, locking down the back line and commanding organisation. Japan kept pushing and pushing but Iraq was holding on and it wasn’t until the dying second that Japan managed to get one back, but it was too late, Iraq walked away 2-1 winners after a momentous achievement from them and Japan now looks to their last game against Indonesia as a must-win if the want to progress in the competition.
I may be a bit bias here but for me, if Tomiyasu had started that match, the two goals wouldn’t have gone in and it would have been a completely different game, you could tell that by the level of standards he clearly brings onto the pitch and hopefully we get to see him start the next match against Indonesia, in which they have to avoid defeat to get to the knockout stages.
Daisy Mae
MID-SEASON Report – Here is the latest DUBLIN ARSENAL video featuring OZZY, EAMONN, CRAIG and Jonathan looking back at how the Gunners performed in the first half of the 2023/24 season
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
Hopefully Japan go out.
I would love to see him shut down Salah again. Tomi hasn’t played against LP since that wonderful day in October 2022.