Statistics show the formidable strength of the Japanese team before the match against the Vietnamese team.

The Japanese team is the first opponent of the Vietnamese team at the 2023 Asian Cup. Coach Hajime Moriyasu and his team are one of the teams with the best performance in the upcoming tournament. They are also the number 1 team in Asia in the latest FIFA rankings with the 17th position.

Since the 2022 World Cup, the team from the land of the rising sun has only lost one match (a 1-2 defeat in a friendly match against Colombia).

Japan have won all nine of their last nine matches. No team at the 2023 Asian Cup has a similar or better record than Japan. South Korea is the next team with six consecutive wins.

Of Japan's nine wins, seven were friendlies and two were in the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The most notable match was against Germany last September.

The Japanese team defeated the world's 16th ranked team 4-1 away from home. It should be emphasized that coach Hansi Flick fielded his strongest lineup to welcome the Asian representative. They had the ball more than anyone else with 68% of the time, but the total number of shots and shots on target were both lower.

This is also the second defeat in less than 12 months for the German team against Japan. Before that was a 1-2 loss at the 2022 World Cup.

During the Japanese team's winning streak, they defeated some strong opponents in other continents such as Peru, Türkiye and Tunisia. Those were all victories with a margin of at least 2 goals or more.

In preparation for the 2023 Asian Cup, Japan defeated Thailand 5-0. That can be considered a comparison for fans to visualize the difference in level between coach Hajime Moriyasu and his team and Southeast Asian teams, because Thailand is the reigning AFF Cup champion.

The last time the Vietnamese team faced Japan was in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. Under the guidance of coach Park Hang Seo, the Vietnamese team lost the first leg 0-1 and drew with their opponents in the second leg - when Japan had secured their place in the World Cup - with a score of 1-1.

Before leaving for Qatar, coach Philippe Troussier commented: " The goal of the Vietnamese team is to play one match at a time, to pass the group stage first. The match with Japan has a 90% chance of losing and the remaining match is to get 1 point, or even win. Who knows, it could be the match on January 14th ."

The match between Vietnam and Japan will take place at 6:30 p.m. on January 14, at Al Thumama Stadium.

Hoai Duong

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