Japan's football 'radical choice' strikes again: If Lee Min-seong's team fails to win the Asian Games gold medal, it will be a 'true humiliation'

*This content was translated by AI.

The Japan Football Association has made another radical choice for the Asian Games to be held in their own country. While the Under-23 (U23) national team is eligible to participate with up to three overage players (wildcards), Japan will compete with its U21 national team without any wildcards. For Lee Min-seong's squad, which has made the opposite choice solely for the gold medal, this presents both an opportunity and a significant burden.

On the 31st, the Japan Football Association announced the final roster of 23 players who will compete in men's football at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. All 23 players were born after 2005, and there are no wildcards. While many teams participate with U23 national teams because men's football at the Asian Games is age-restricted to 23, Japan has consistently sent its U21 team since the age limit was introduced for the Asian Games.

Japan sends a team two years younger to the Asian Games because it is focusing more on the Olympics two years later. The U21 team competing in this tournament is the generation that will participate in the Asian qualifiers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and if they qualify, the main tournament as well. Unlike South Korea, for whom both the Asian Games and the Olympics are important, Japan operates its U23 national team on a four-year cycle aligned with the Olympics. For example, this year, Lee Min-seong's U23 team will participate in the Asian Games, while Kim Eun-joong's U21 team is preparing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic qualifiers two years later.

In fact, earlier this year, there were discussions about the possibility of the Japan Football Association changing its long-standing policy. In March, Masakuni Yamamoto, Gi Sul-wi (Director) of the Japan Football Association, mentioned that he received a message through the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) meeting to aim for the gold medal this time and that they had discussed with the J-League clubs' strengthening departments and technical committee members how to assemble the squad.

Japan has focused on winning the 'gold medal' in this tournament because it recently finished with silver medals after losing to South Korea in two consecutive tournaments, and because this is the first time since the 1994 Hiroshima Games that the event is being held in their own country. However, as a result, the Japan Football Association has once again assembled its team with a U21 squad without any wildcards. The roster includes four players from Europe, three university students, and four teenagers.

Of course, complacency must be avoided. Japan has already conquered Asia with its U21 national team. This happened at the AFC U23 Asian Cup last January. At that time, Japan also won the championship by sending a U21 team two years younger than usual. South Korea, led by Coach Lee Min-seong, lost to Japan and failed to reach the final. Although some key players such as Sato Ryunosuke (Valencia) were absent, 15 of the 23rd members who won the AFC U23 Asian Cup last January are participating in this Asian Games. It is a team with strong continuity.

However, regardless, Lee Min-seong's squad will welcome Japan's radical choice to field a team two years younger without wildcards. Ultimately, Japan has been their biggest rival, having met in the finals of the last two consecutive Asian Games, and this time they can gain an advantage in team composition even while facing the host nation's home-field advantage. Coach Lee Min-seong is already preparing for this Asian Games by including three members from the 2026 FIFA North, Central America and Caribbean World Cup qualifiers—Lee Gi-hyeok (Gangwon FC), Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic FC), and Eom Ji-sung (Swansea City)—as wildcards.

There can be no other goal. The only objective for Lee Min-seong's team is the 'gold medal' which comes with military service benefits for the players. Whether they meet Japan directly or face a team that has defeated Japan, the sole task for Lee Min-seong's squad in this tournament is to survive until the very end. Given that Japan's strength does not include the best possible lineup with wildcards, the possibility of Lee Min-seong's team winning the gold medal has increased accordingly. Conversely, if they were to lose again to Japan, which is two years younger and even lacks wildcards, it would remain a humiliating disaster in the history of South Korean football.

- Goalkeepers: Masataka Kobayashi (20, Matsumoto Yamaga FC), Alexandre Pisano Gotoborio (20, Nagoya Grampus), Rui Araki (18, Gamba Osaka)

- Defenders: Rion Ichihara (21, AZ Alkmaar / Netherlands), Rei Umeki (20, FC Imabari), Keita Gosugi (20, Eintracht Frankfurt / Germany), Shuto Nagano (20, FC Tokyo), Kaito Tsuchiya (20, Fukushima United FC), Tarik-Kani Hayato Okabe (20, Toyoda University), Mahiro Sato (19, Albirex Niigata), Soichiro Mori (19, Fagiano Okayama)

- Midfielders: Yuto Ozeki (21, Kawasaki Frontale), Kenshin Yasuda (21, V-Varen Nagasaki), Nelson Ishiwatari (21, Sint-Truiden VV / Belgium), Hisatsugu Ishii (21, Shonan Bellmare), Yotaro Nakajima (20, Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Yudai Shimamoto (19, Shimizu S-Pulse)

- Forwards: Shusuke Furuya (21, Tokyo International University), Uwadike Uche Brian Seo (21, Aalborg BK / Denmark), Yuya Fukunaga (20, Kyoto Sangyo University), Yumeki Yokoyama (20, Cerezo Osaka), Yutaka Michiwaki (20, Iwaki FC), Sena Ishibashi (20, Shonan Bellmare)

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*This content was translated by AI.