Former National Player: Chinese Players No Longer Foul Deliberately—The Roughness This Time Is Within Acceptable Limits

According to reports from Japan’s “Football Zone,” in the first round of the Asian Qualifiers for the World Cup, the Japanese national team coached by Hajime Moriyasu (ranked 18th by FIFA) defeated the Chinese national team (ranked 87th) with a score of 7-0. Although some of the main players of the Japanese team encountered relatively intense physical challenges during the match, including baseline tackles and elbowing, former Japanese international player Yuzo Kurihara believes that these actions fall within the normal range of the game.

The entire match saw Japan with a possession rate as high as 72.7%, making 15 shots, while China only managed one shot and received three yellow cards.

During the match, Yang Zexiang of the Chinese team executed a baseline tackle on Takumi Minamino in the 18th minute, causing Minamino to fall in pain. Additionally, Zhang Yuning was booked with a yellow card for elbowing Ko Itakura in the 39th minute during an offensive play.

Yuzo Kurihara, who faced the Chinese team in the East Asian Cup in July 2013 and has played against Chinese clubs multiple times in the AFC Champions League, commented, “Although there are still some rough actions in the game, compared to the past, the behavior of the Chinese team has changed significantly.”

Kurihara mentioned that in the past, the Chinese team often deliberately committed malicious fouls, but in this match, the players showed apologetic attitudes after committing fouls. He stated, “In the past, when encountering Chinese teams in the AFC Champions League, they often had an attitude of ‘What’s the problem with this?’ which made opponents feel very uneasy. But now this situation has improved. With the application of VAR technology, actions that could cause serious injuries have decreased. Therefore, I believe the level of fouls in the current game is acceptable.”