By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Talking points from the week in Asian football:
JAPAN’S TACTICAL FLEXIBILITY DELIGHTS MORIYASU
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu praised his players’ tactical flexibility after their 4-1 win over Germany in Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Junya Ito’s early opener was cancelled out by Leroy Sane but goals from Ayase Ueda, Takuma Asano and Ao Tanaka earned the Japanese a second successive win over the Germans after their 2-1 victory at the World Cup last year.
“We’re building things up while setting the bar high,” said Moriyasu. “The players were smart in taking on the challenge to execute my difficult tactical changes.
“It was great they showed the ability to cope with different situations and make adjustments, and defend with intensity while not forgetting to attack.”
AUSTRALIA COACH NOT A FAN OF ARTIFICIAL SURFACE IN TEXAS
Australia coach Graham Arnold said his players will take longer than usual to recover after their 2-2 draw with Mexico on Saturday due to the artificial surface at AT&T Stadium in Texas.
“They will struggle to probably walk for five days after this, I think, after playing on the artificial,” he said. “It’s clear to see that it’s a difficult surface to play on.”
Harry Souttar and Martin Boyle gave Arnold’s side a two-goal lead before they were pegged back by goals from Raul Jimenez and Cesar Huerta.
MANCINI’S SAUDI REIGN GETS OFF TO LOSING START
Roberto Mancini suffered a defeat in his first game as Saudi Arabia head coach after the Green Falcons lost 3-1 to Costa Rica at St James’ Park on Friday.
A group of Newcastle fans protested before the match against the use of St James’ Park by Saudi Arabia, who will play again at the stadium on Tuesday versus South Korea.
Newcastle’s majority shareholder is Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and critics argue that the buyout of the club amounts to sportswashing by a regime keen to improve its image.
SOUTH KOREA STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS, SAYS COACH KLINSMANN
Juergen Klinsmann says South Korea are still going through a transition period and wants to see his squad build a strong mentality as they head toward next year’s Asian Cup in Qatar.
The Koreans extended their winless run under Klinsmann to five games on Thursday with a 0-0 draw against Wales.
“The team is in the process of developing toward Qatar,” Klinsmann said. “It’s a normal process between two World Cups that there’s a type of a turnover into the next generation of players.
“For me, it’s very important to see where they are mentally … and I look a lot about how the team develops as a group. If you want to win or want to go far in a tournament, you need a very, very strong spirit.”
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
