Chapter 1044: Destroying South Korea!

Well, it turned out that the caution from Moriyasu-sensei was a little bit too exaggerated, because Japan truly outclassed South Korea in all aspects today.

When it came to dictating the tempo, the trio of Wataru Endo, Hidemasa Morita, and Daichi Kamada was enough to make the opponent’s midfielders run around like headless chickens, not knowing where to chase the ball.

The quick one-touch pass sequence between them not only managed to confuse the opponent’s players, but it also opened up so many spaces in South Korea’s territory.

As a team that was also dangerous on the frontline, of course, there was no way Japan wouldn’t take advantage of this.

Their two wingers, Takumi Minamino from Liverpool and Junya Ito from Genk, could be seen so often tucking into the penalty box, letting the two wingers attack the flank to add more people in the dangerous area.

Then, as the team’s main striker, Yuya Osako’s task was simple, which was to drag the opponent’s defensive shape to the side where the ball was going, making them all move to that direction and leave the other side of the box empty for a diagonal cross from the wing.

The result appeared pretty quickly, just 13 minutes after the game began.

Starting with Wataru Endo, who found Sho Sasaki on the left wing as the fullback was overlapping to the front line, a cross was whipped to the center.

Instead of going to Yuya Osako, who dragged the two central defenders around him, though, it went to Daichi Kamada, who came from outside the box.

As a result, without anyone truly guarding him, Frankfurt’s attacking midfielder didn’t have any difficulty whacking the ball with a half-volley shot, giving the team the first goal of the day.

However, that was not the end.

No, Japan dominated the whole game, not even giving South Korea any chance to come close to their penalty box.

Hell, even Higo himself couldn’t help but wonder, ’Is South Korea really that weak? How could they not be able to get out of our pressure?’

The truth was that it wasn’t South Korea who was weak, but Japan was way too strong. Even Lee Kang-In couldn’t move a single inch before Wataru Endo would always storm at him, not giving the attacking midfielder any time to breathe.

So far, in the first half, Japan managed to put 6 shots on target, all of them becoming a big threat for the South Korean’s side. Meanwhile, the away team couldn’t even put one single shot, even one that was off-target, as they couldn’t peek through the wall that Japan’s side set.

Then, right before the first half was about to end, the second disaster for South Korea arrived.

This time, it came from a free kick scenario that was cleared by their center back, and the rebound ball went to Hidemasa Morita in the midfield.

The man didn’t shoot the ball straight away, but waited patiently until the opponents swarmed at him before pushing the ball to the channel area, where Junya Ito managed to execute it with a beautiful curl into the far post of the goal.

This ended the first half with the home team leading two goals, leaving the strong South Korean side with nothing but frustration for not being able to even threaten Japan at all.

Unfortunately for them, though, the second half went exactly the same.

Even though Japan subbed off Daichi Kamada and Sho Sasaki for Koki Morita and Miki Yamane, two newcomers to the team, the domination could still be shown on the pitch.

Hell, if anything, the threat even became more dangerous, as Morita’s creativity with Miki Yamane’s aggressiveness managed to destroy the opponent’s left flank and turn that side into shambles.

In the end, in the 71st minute, the Samurai Blue team finally sealed the deal with a beautiful goal, coming from Morita, who managed to attract the opponent’s attention to his side before pushing the ball to Miki Yamane on the flank.

From that side, the fullback just glanced at the penalty box for one second, and before anyone knew it, the man had already whacked the most powerful rocket from that side, piercing through the wind before slamming into the back of the South Korean’s net perfectly.

Honestly, even Higo himself felt his jaw drop when he saw this, clearly not expecting that the fullback could pull such a powerful missile from that wing side.

’Even if I were the goalkeeper, it would be impossible for me to stop that.’ He couldn’t help but mutter.

’The speed itself was one thing, but the direction, though... It went directly to the top corner, the most difficult spot to reach. Even if I dived, my hand wouldn’t be able to reach it in time, not if my clairvoyance ability failed to warn me two or three seconds before.’

This only made the boy feel awe for his friend, as he didn’t expect that the quiet fullback really had it in him to pull such a bold move.

It was also a bit funny to see him roaring wildly in his celebration, but for a fullback who didn’t go forward often, having a goal in his debut for the national team was definitely a special memory here.

After that, though, the tempo finally slowed down by a huge margin. Japan didn’t push forward anymore, but they still retained possession, not giving South Korea’s players any chance to build momentum today.

Poor them, they looked like a weak team that couldn’t even play properly here. Hell, on the stats, they only managed to gain 27 percent of possession, failing to get out of their own territory before getting killed by any Japanese players around.

In the end, they were also helpless in this situation, accepting that this game was a lost cause for them. While some players still showed their willingness to run, most of them had already turned into a bunch of spectators, letting Japan do whatever they wanted on the pitch.

This state lasted until the end, and once the referee blew the final whistle, everyone couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

The game was finally over, and Japan started their journey in this international break with a solid win against their rival South Korea with the score of 3-0.