'Shocking Asian Cup quarter-finals eliminated' Japanese Mbappe's extraordinary mind despite defeat..."I can't win the World Cup like this"

'Shocking Asian Cup quarter-finals eliminated' Japanese Mbappe's extraordinary mind despite defeat..."I can't win the World Cup like this"

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Yoshida Minato (16, Kashima Antlers), dubbed the "second Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)," showed a resolute appearance despite the defeat.

Japan's U-17 national team, led by coach Nozomi Hiroyama, drew 2-2 against Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Asian Cup at Taip Okaz Sports Club Stadium in Saudi Arabia on the 14th (Korea Standard Time), losing 2-3 in the ensuing penalty shootout, and loading up early.

Saudi Arabia will have a showdown with the winner of the match between Tajikistan and South Korea on Tuesday over the advance to the semifinals. Japan's unexpected elimination has ended the match between Korea and Japan.

Japan took the lead in the ninth minute of the first half with a penalty kick score by Seguchi Taiga (Vissel Kobe), but gave up the equalizer to Abubaker Abdelrahman Said in the 17th minute of the first half and, to make matters worse, allowed Sabri Abdou to score a comeback goal in the 37th minute of the first half. Fortunately, in the 27th minute of the second half, Hiroto Asada (Yokohama F. Marinos) scored following the help of "singer Kim Jung-min's son" Tani Daichi (Sagan Dos) to achieve a 2-2 balance.

The game immediately led to a penalty shootout without any extension. Japan missed the 3rd, 4th and 5th kickers one after another, while Saudi Arabia showed a calm penalty kick except for the 3rd kicker. As a result, Japan lost 2-3 to Saudi Arabia and suffered a setback, and the bid for the third consecutive Asian Cup came to nothing.

Yoshida, who showed off his formidable scoring ability with three goals in four Asian Cup matches, said in an interview with Japanese media outlet "Gekisaka" after the match, "It's a pity that we can't decide the game within 90 minutes, not because we lost the penalty shootout. At this rate, we can't win the World Cup," but added, "Only those who have been here can know this atmosphere and feeling. I think we can develop further both as a team and personally when we go back to Japan. Now is the time to acknowledge that other teams, including Saudi Arabia, are better than Japan and build our own weapons." 스포츠토토

Yoshida, who had been on the local youth team just two years ago, built her nest in Kashima last year and surprised fans by signing a first-team contract with her outstanding performance, including becoming the top scorer of the youth tournament in half a year. Japan is a top prospect who aims to participate in the 34th Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, and is considered to have a similar playing style to Mbappe thanks to his outstanding goal-scoring ability using both feet.