Japan loses Mitoma for the 2023 Asian Cup.

Kaoru Mitoma suffered an ankle injury, will be out of action for at least four weeks, and is almost certainly not going to recover in time for the 2023 Asian Cup.

Mitoma suffered an injury during Brighton's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace in the 18th round of the Premier League on December 22nd. He left the field in the 83rd minute limping. Immediately afterwards, Mitoma shared: "I will be out for a while, but I will come back stronger."

Ahead of today's match against Tottenham in round 19, manager Roberto De Zerbi said Brighton would be without Mitoma for four to six weeks, while the 2023 Asian Cup runs from January 12th to February 10th, 2024. When asked if the midfielder would be available for the tournament in Qatar, De Zerbi replied: "I'm not sure, but probably not."

Midfielder Kaoru Mitoma celebrates after scoring a goal that helped Japan beat Australia 2-0 in the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Photo: AFP

This is bad news for the Japanese national team, as Mitoma is their most important player on the left wing. The East Asian representatives aim to win the Asian Cup and will begin their campaign in Qatar with matches in Group D against Vietnam, Iraq, and Indonesia.

Mitoma, born in 1997, played professionally from 2018 for Kawasaki Frontale before joining Brighton in 2021. He is one of the best dribblers in the Premier League currently. Previously, the 26-year-old also used dribbling as the topic for his graduation thesis while studying at Tsukuba University.

Mitoma was first called up to the Japanese national team in November 2021 for the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, and was subsequently included in the squad for the finals in Qatar. He helped Japan reach the round of 16, where they lost to Croatia on penalties.

Mitoma's most memorable moment was his assist for Ao Tanaka's winning goal in the 2-1 victory against Spain in the final group stage match. The goal was controversial as it was initially thought to have gone over the goal line when Mitoma touched the ball, but was later deemed valid thanks to VAR and the ball's touch sensor technology.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/nhat-ban-mat-mitoma-o-asian-cup-2023-4694346.html