Of the 26 finalists for the AFC Asian Cup, 20 are from the European leagues. Most of the squads are from European leagues. Winger Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion), central midfielder Takehiro Endo (Riverpool), defender Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arnall) and Utah Nakayama (Huddersfield Town) have been selected as players who play in the English Premier League.
Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), a member of Spain’s La Liga, is also included. There are also four players who play in the German Bundesliga: Takuma Asano (Bochum), Ritz Doan (Freiburg), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), and Ko Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach). Also on the list are striker Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord) and defender Yukinari Sugawara (Alkmar), who will play in the Eredivisie stage in the Netherlands. 에볼루션 바카라사이트
There are also three players from the French Ligue 1. They are Junya Ito, Keito Nakamura (Reims) and Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco). Strikers Daizen Maeda and Leo Hatate, who play for prestigious Celtic in Scotland, also got the chance. Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Hent), Goki Machida (Winion SG), and Gion Suzuki (Sintraudon) of the Belgian league also joined the team.
As many as 20 players from Europe got on board including Morita Hidemasa from Portugal’s prestigious Sporting Lisbon. Only five players from the Japanese J-League are playing, and only six are from Asia, including Shogo Taniguchi from Al Rayan, Qatar.
When comparing the number of players playing in European leagues with that of Korea, the difference is evident. Among the 26 players in Korea who entered the league, players in European leagues have 12 players, accounting for only 46.15 percent, or less than half. Instead, the number of players in the K-League is 11, which is almost the same as the number of players in European leagues. Notably, in the defense line, all of the other seven players except Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Kim Ji-soo (Brentford) play in the K-League.
The difference is quality. Korea is second to Japan in terms of quality and weight. World-class striker Son Heung-min (32) is at a high level that none of the Japanese players can match. Even Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) who scored double-digit goals in this season’s EPL and Lee Kang-in who plays as a starting member of French giants Paris Saint-Germain will lead the team’s offense.
No matter how good Kubona Mitoma is, it cannot be asserted that it is better than the combination of Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan and Lee Kang-in. In addition, Mitoma has been called out, but it is unclear whether he will play or not because he is injured.
Korea even has Kim Min-jae, who is evaluated as the world’s best center back. It is hard to say that the waistline that Lee Jae-sung (Mainz05) and Hwang In-beom (Zurbena Zvezda) endure is also lagging far behind Japan.
South Korea and Japan are considered strong contenders for the Asian Cup. The two teams are likely to meet in the final. If both Korea and Japan rank first in the group stage, there will be no meeting in the round of 16 or 4. First of all, just looking at the player’s entry, there is already a fiery atmosphere.
