Lee Min Sung Ho, "Super Emergency" at the Asian Games... Calling 'Choi Jeong-ye' from Europe to Japan

*This content was translated by AI.

"Japan's plans changed." Lee Min Sung Ho Asian Games "Super Emergency"... Plans to convene 'Choi Jeong-ye' such as European wave

There is a big variable in Lee Min-sung's challenge to win his fourth consecutive men's soccer title at the 2026 Aichi and Nagoya Asian Games. This is because Japanese soccer, which has not meant much to the Asian Games, has changed its plan to set up a national team with the aim of winning the first men's soccer gold medal in 16 years.

According to Japanese media Gekisaka on the 6th, Masakuni Yamamoto, chairman of the technical committee of the Japan Football Association, said at a media briefing after a recent technical committee meeting, "Through the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) meeting, I was informed that I must aim for the gold medal this time. "We discussed with the reinforcement department (J-League clubs) and the members of the technical committee on how to convene the squad," he said.

Japan clashed with South Korea in the men's soccer finals in both the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games (Indonesia) and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, but lost one after another to stay in silver. Japan won the Asian Games men's soccer gold medal at the 2010 Guangzhou (China) Games, including before the 2002 Busan Games, where the age was limited to under-23 (U-23).

However, the Aichi and Nagoya Asian Games are the first competition in Japan in 32 years since the 1994 Hiroshima Games, and it seems that they have begun to show their willingness to win the gold medal as they have swallowed their disappointment by losing two consecutive finals. The goal is to block South Korea's bid for the gold medal for the fourth consecutive Asian Games and to stand atop the men's soccer podium for the second time in 16 years in front of its own people.

It is expected that there will be no change in the Japanese Football Association's policy to play in the U-21 national team, which has been maintained since the age limit for men's soccer. Japan has formed the so-called Los Angeles (LA) Generation U-21 national team and is preparing for the LA Olympics two years later. In the recent 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup, Japan's two-year-old U-21 national team participated instead and reached the top. From the beginning of the U-21 national team under coach Oiwa Ko, he had planned to participate in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup and Asian Games this year.

The problem is player composition. In the meantime, Japan has not been willing to play in the Asian Games enough to field the U-21 national team, so it is true that Japan has lost a lot of strength in the composition of players. Unlike Korea, the wild card (24 years old or older) was also not used. For example, at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, Japan had only two overseas players (Germany and Brazil) out of 22 players, and 10 were made up of university players. However, local predictions are that this tournament will bring in a large number of players playing in Europe as well as those playing in the professional soccer J-League.

Given that the upcoming Asian Games will largely overlap with the FIFA A-match period from September to October, it is expected that the Asian Games will be easy to play in the European leagues. In fact, FIFA has changed its rules to allow up to four consecutive games by integrating the A-match period, which was held in two games each in September and October, into September and October from this year. Men's soccer at the Asian Games will be held from September 15 to October 3, and the A-match period from September to October 6 is from September 21 to October 6. European clubs, which have been reluctant to run for the Asian Games because there is no compulsory loan clause and it is in the season, can also cooperate in the loan in line with the A-match period.

According to Japanese media Gekisaka, "According to Chairman Yamamoto, the Japanese Football Association seems to be carefully coordinating the call-up of players with the strengthening department and technical committee of the J-League clubs, in line with the fact that it is the first Asian Games held since 1994, and the fact that the A-match period mostly overlaps with the Asian Games is also expected to be a boon for the Japanese national team, which is considering a transfer to the European leagues."

If Japan, which has the advantage of the host country and recently beat Lee Min-sung, two-year-old, pays attention to the composition of the team, Lee Min-sung's bid for the fourth consecutive Asian Games will be a major obstacle. Of course, South Korea is also expected to make the most of its wild cards as well as European teams as well as European teams, but considering the performance of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup and coach Lee Min-sung's tactics, it is true that the prospects for the Asian Games gold medal are not bright. This is the background where there was a lot of voice over the replacement of the head coach.

However, the Korea Football Association's Power Reinforcement Committee under Chairman Hyun Young-min, who was in charge of head coach Lee Min-sung for the U-23 national team, has decided to appoint a new head coach for the LA Olympics two years later. "So far, we have decided that maintaining the continuity of the process is suitable for achieving the gold medal goal," the Korea Football Association explained at the time, but in order to achieve the goal, the pressure to beat Japan, which is "different from previous competitions," has increased.

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*This content was translated by AI.