East Asian Cup finale: Japan vs South Korea! Why is South Korea’s defense considered weaker than our China team’s?

Today’s first match preview: Japan vs South Korea in the East Asian Cup!

This match is the grand finale of the East Asian Cup.

Japan, a team even our China squad can’t handle, will they be able to challenge South Korea?

Japan and South Korea have distinctly different football styles.

Japan is more ambitious, focusing on possession and playing attacking football.

South Korea, on the other hand, adopts a practical defensive counterattack approach.

That’s why they often produce some excellent forwards and defenders.

Because our China team unexpectedly shut out Japan, the situation favors South Korea—they only need a draw to win the championship.

Japan has no choice but to push forward. Their possession-based style looks elegant but lacks a killer instinct; despite high ball possession, it’s ineffective.

Logically, if Japan can’t break through our China team’s defensive bus, can they get past South Korea’s defense?

Thinking this way might underestimate our China team and overestimate South Korea.

Although our squad mainly consists of U23 players, these players have been coached by Jankovic for years, cultivated step-by-step from U19, so their chemistry is solid.

Moreover, the central defense trio of Jiang Guangtai, Wu Shaocong, and Zhu Chenjie isn’t that weak.

South Korea’s central defense might not be as strong.

For example, their Napoli player Kim Min-jae isn’t even here.

Even their two main Asian center-backs, Kim Young-gwon and Lee Sang-min, are absent.

So who are the four central defenders they brought this time?

Kwon Kyung-won, Park Ji-su, Cho Yu-min, and Lee Jae-ik.

The last two play in the K2 League, and Park Ji-su’s recent performance after leaving a major club has been terrible—14 games with 5 yellows, 3 reds, 4 penalties conceded, and 1 own goal—truly comical.

Their strongest, Kwon Kyung-won, can only manage in a relegation-threatened club like Gamba Osaka and isn’t an absolute starter.

Also, since Kim Young-gwon and Lee Sang-min missed out due to sudden illness, these replacement players might lack mutual understanding.

Although there is a significant overall strength gap between South Korea and our China team,

at the center-back position, our China team might even be a bit stronger.

If nothing unexpected happens today, South Korea will defend stubbornly and won’t attack Japan unless they fall behind. The game will likely be dull; if you’re hoping for a goal fest, that probably won’t happen. One or two goals would be a good outcome.

The key focus and suspense of the match is whether Japan can break through South Korea’s defense.

Although Japan’s attack is flashy and intricate, South Korea’s central defense is more worrisome.

There’s a saying “a long defense will eventually fail.” Yesterday many fans said, “You can always trust the Chinese women’s team.” I want to revise that to: “You can never trust the defense line with Park Ji-su.”

Japan has declared they must win the championship. Do you think they can satisfy their fans? I personally hope they can directly defeat South Korea.

Alright, for today’s other matches, I will continue to provide written analysis this evening. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. Let’s enjoy the games together!

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