What Causes East Asian Football Defeat? Media Analysis, "Saudi Oil Money, Club Weight Classes Are Different"
What Causes East Asian Football Defeat? Media Analysis, "Saudi Oil Money, Club Weight Classes Are Different"
Blog Article
"The difference doesn't make sense".
Japan's "Nikkan Sports" analyzed the recent changes in Asian soccer with an article titled "What Is the Cause of East Asian Football's Defeat on the Asian Stage?" The media stressed, "The size of the club's budget is different, literally, it is the result of defeat."
Al-Nasr defeated Yokohama 4-1 in the elite quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League in the 2024-2025 season at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
On this day, Al Nasr mobilized all of his big league players, including Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, John Duran, and Marcelo Brozovic.
Yokohama faced off with bold pressure from the beginning. He defended well by cutting off Al Nasr's rhythm with rough fouls, but it was difficult to keep Al Nasr, who displayed world-class personal skills, for a long time.
Al-Nasr scored the first goal in the 27th minute of the first half. Mane reconnected Ronaldo's cross from the right side of the box after breaking down the defense with his personal skills, and Duran finished the ball that the defender spilled into the goal while trying to clear it.
Al-Nasr scored an additional goal four minutes later. Mane neatly finished the ball given to the left by Otavio, who received Ronaldo's pass in the counterattack. In an instant, a 2-0 score was made.
Yokohama players collapsed. In the 38th minute of the first half, the goalkeeper failed to properly deal with Brozovic's shot that was deflected off the defense, and Ronaldo calmly pushed the spilled ball to seal the net. Ronaldo reached his 934th career goal with the goal.
The first half ended with Al Nasr's 3-0 lead. At the beginning of the second half, Yokohama made a change in the offense. It was not enough to change the flow. Al Nasr added another goal in the fourth minute of the second half. Goalkeeper Park Il-kyu blocked Otavio's shot, but Duran kicked the ball back to complete the multi-goal.
Yokohama did not give up easily. Watanabe Gota, who was substituted after a quick pass at the eighth minute in the second half, received a back pass from Andersson López and scored a comeback goal with a diagonal shot. He was the only East Asian team that shook the West Asian team's net on the day.
Yokohama ended its counterattack. As Gota, the main character of the comeback goal, was sent off due to accumulated number of warnings in the 28th minute of the second half, the team effectively lost momentum to catch up. Afterwards, Al-Nasr replaced key players including Ronaldo to maintain physical stamina and finished the game. Al-Nasr advanced to the semifinals by winning 4-1. Despite its good performance in the group league, Yokohama failed to overcome the West Asian wall.
As Gwangju FC lost to Al Hilal 0-7 and Buriram United lost to Al Ahliye 0-3, the only hope among East Asian teams is Kawasaki Frontale, which will face off against Al-Sad (Qatar). Based on dividends, Kawasaki is also underdog. As such, Saudi Arabia has an overwhelming number of teams through restrictions on recruitment of foreigners and massive funding.
This is not the end of the tournament. Usually, the tournament is conducted in a home-and-away manner, but ACLE is playing only one game, especially in Saudi Arabia, where Western Asian teams have no choice but to have an advantage.
"The Yokohama team had a good fight against Al Nasr. However, there was a clear gap in skills. There was just a slight difference in individual players' composition, weight class, and skills," Nikkan Sports said. "One Yokohama player sighed, saying, 'I knew it, but I was overwhelmed by individual players. I was overwhelmed by individual players' skills." 바카라사이트
The media outlet said, "Not only Yokohama but also Gwangju FC of Korea suffered a crushing defeat. The acting coach Kisnovo shook his head, saying, "The size of the club's budget is different," and added, "Al-Nasr's players are not capable of competing in the Asian Games. It is natural that the Asian team will be defeated."