Why is Japan the number 1 candidate at the 2023 Asian Cup?

According to information provided by the global player valuation site transfermarkt, Japan is the team with the most expensive squad in the 2023 Asian Cup, with an estimated price of 316.95 million euros (more than 8,439 billion VND).

The value of Japan's squad is far ahead of the second-placed team, which is also the team often compared to Japan, South Korea (193 million euros - more than 5,138 billion VND). Meanwhile, the other 3 teams in the "Big Five" group of Asian football, including Iran (51.58 million euros - more than 1,373 billion VND), Australia (40.9 million euros - about 1,089 billion VND) and Saudi Arabia (23.3 million euros - more than 620 billion VND) are left far behind.

Japan (blue shirt) is a strong candidate for the 2023 Asian Cup championship.

These numbers also reflect the fact that Japan's squad is very well-balanced. For example, the Korean team has a few big stars such as Son Heung-min playing for Tottenham (England), Kim Min-jae playing for Bayern Munich (Germany), or Lee Kang-in playing for Paris Saint Germain (France).

However, Korean football is actually better than Japanese football in terms of branding and image creation for stars. In terms of uniformity, the Japanese team is much more uniform.

For example, Japan will participate in the 2023 Asian Cup with 21/26 players playing abroad, including 20 players playing in Europe (compared to 12 players from Korea). Japan is also the team with the most players playing in Europe among the teams participating in the 2023 Asian Cup.

Of course, having the best squad does not mean winning the championship. However, Japan has another formidable parameter besides the squad, which is form.

In terms of form, the team from the land of the rising sun is currently in extremely good form, not only through 9 consecutive wins in the past half year (from June 2023 until now, Japan has played 9 international matches, won all 9 matches, scored 39 goals, and only conceded 5 goals), but also from their stability through many consecutive Asian Cup tournaments.

Japan (blue shirt) has 20 players playing in Europe.

Japan is the defending runner-up of this year's tournament. The last time Japan won the Asian Cup was in 2011, which is not too long ago.

Going back to the past, Japan won the championship 3 more times in 1992, 2000 and 2004. That is, from 1992 until now, Japan has never had 2 consecutive Asian Cups without winning. Based on this detail, Japan can become the champion of the Asian Cup 2023, after failing to win the most recent tournament in 2019.

Meanwhile, other strong candidates such as South Korea and Iran have been far from the glory of the Asian championship. The last time South Korea won an Asian Cup was in… 1960. As for Iran, the last time they won the Asian Cup was at the 1976 Asian Cup, almost half a century ago.

That is the reason why when it comes to football competitions in Asia, Japan is always the name that experts and fans in many countries are most interested in!

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