Asia's strongest Japanese soccer...Almost humiliated by ranked 160th Myanmar...Additional time theater goals saved lives

Sep 08, 2025

Asia's strongest Japanese soccer...Almost humiliated by ranked 160th Myanmar...Additional time theater goals saved lives
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Asia's strongest Japanese soccer...Almost humiliated by ranked 160th Myanmar...Additional time theater goals saved lives
중계화면
Asia's strongest Japanese soccer...Almost humiliated by ranked 160th Myanmar...Additional time theater goals saved lives
'Is it the end of Japanese soccer?'.

On the 6th, the Chinese portal 'Sohu Dotcom' wrote in a related article after the second Group B match of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup qualifier between Japan and Myanmar at Toon Nastadium in Yangon, Myanmar. 'Asian No. 1 Japan almost tied the underdog team at 160th. It's humiliating to score in extra time. Japan is 17th in the FIFA rankings.

Japan took the lead with Okabe's header first goal in the 7th minute of the second half, but in the 35th minute of the second half, they dedicated the equalizer to Swan Hitet in the corner. At the end of regular time, the score was 1-1.




Japan, which defeated Afghanistan 3-0 in the first round of the group stage, is in danger of allowing the biggest upset of the tournament.

Asia's strongest Japanese soccer...Almost humiliated by ranked 160th Myanmar...Additional time theater goals saved lives
중계화면
However, a theater goal was scored in the second minute of extra time in the second half. Myanmar defender Martino committed a foul in the process of blocking Japanese midfielder Nawata Gaku's dribble breakthrough in the penalty box. Martino burst into tears in his colleague's arms after the penalty was declared.

Nawata himself played as a penalty kicker and scored the winning goal.




Japan won all two games and gained an advantage in advancing to the Asian Cup finals. On the 9th, he will win the ticket to the finals just by drawing the final match against Kuwait, which is ranked second with one win, one draw and four points.

A total of 11 teams from 11 groups in the preliminary round, four teams from the second place, and 16 teams from the host country, including Saudi Arabia, will compete in the finals in January next year.

The South Korean U-22 team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, took a stride toward the finals by defeating Macau (5-0 wins) and Laos (7-0 wins) in Group J.






This article was translated by Naver AI translator.