クロアチア戦前/Before the Croatia game
引き続きサッカーの話。韓国もなんとポルトガルを破りグループリーグを突破した。親戚の人達は興奮して、妻もそして自分もとても喜んだ。昔は、韓国が勝つのはあまり嬉しくなかったけれども、こうして家族と時間を過ごすとともにアジアの中の自分の国のように応援することができるようになった。
韓国対ポルトガル戦は最後の方しか見ていなかったが、何か最後まで全然わからない気がして、案の定、ソンフンミンのアシストにより、ロスタイムにゴールを決めた。
日本にしても韓国にしても、2試合終わって１位の強豪国のグループリーグ最終試合にあたり、何か強豪国の必死さが欠ける中で、運が良かったというのもあったのかもしれない。スペインについては、ドイツがコスタリカにリードしてからは、何が最後の方は2位狙いで、積極的な必死な攻めは見られなかったように。
決勝トーナメントは4試合が終わり、オランダ、アルゼンチン、イングランド、フランスが順調にベスト8に進んだ。強豪国は、やはり決勝トーナメントでピッチを上げてきたようにも見える。
グループリーグの戦いでは、番狂せはよく見られるが、決勝トーナメントでそれが減ってくるのは毎回同じのように見える。日韓ワールドカップは例外で韓国が破竹の番狂せを見せたことがカタールで見られるかは見物だが、そう考えると、日本がクロアチアを、そして韓国がブラジルを下すのは難しく思えてくる。
個人的には、まさかの日本対韓国のベスト8での対決があれば、妻との応援対決になり、恐ろしいが、可能性は限りなく低いだろう。しかし、もしそれが起こればアジアは大盛り上がりとなり、大きな話題になるだろう。ぜひ、見てみたい。
今、ここで書いている約2時間後に日本対クロアチアが行われる。これが、終わればワールカップサッカーの楽しみは4年後になってしまうので、先に少し寝て、起きて、存分に味わいたいと思う。
Continuing the soccer story. Korea also made it through the group league, defeating Portugal. My relatives were excited and my wife and I were very happy. In the past, I was not so happy to see Korea win, but now, as I spend time with my family, I can cheer for them as if they were my own country in Asia.
I only watched the last part of the Korea-Portugal game, but I felt like I had no idea what was going on until the very end, and sure enough, an assist from Son Heung-min led to a goal in the last minute.
Both Japan and Korea were in the final group league match of the strong nations in first place after two games, and perhaps they were lucky in the lack of desperation of the strong nations. As for Spain, after Germany took the lead over Costa Rica, what was the last part of the game, as if they were aiming for the second place and did not show any aggressive and desperate attack.
The final four matches of the tournament were over, and the Netherlands, Argentina, England, and France advanced smoothly to the last eight. The strong nations still seem to have raised their pitch in the final tournament.
While frenzies are common in group league play, they seem to diminish in the final tournament, as they do in every other tournament. The Japan-Korea World Cup was an exception to this rule, and it will be interesting to see if we can see Korea's unbelievable run in Qatar as well as they smashed strong teams consecutively in their host World Cup, but given that, it seems difficult to see Japan beating Croatia and Korea beating Brazil.
Personally, I would dread a Japan-Korea showdown in the last eight, which I never thought would happen, because it would be a horrible showdown with my wife cheering Korea on, and me cheering Japan on, but it is as unlikely as it is possible. However, if that were to happen, Asia would be in uproar and it would be a big story. I would love to see it happen.
About two hours after I write this, Japan vs. Croatia will be played. Once that is over, the World Cup soccer fun will be four years away, so I will sleep a little first, wake up, and enjoy it to the fullest.
#サッカー #ワールドカップ#日本代表#韓国代表#soccer#worldcup#決勝トーナメント#ベスト16