Kuwait's Youth Team Suffers Defeat Against Japan

Kuwait Youth (Under-20) national football team suffered a 0-4 defeat to Japan in Cambodia, in the first match of Group 7 of the Asian Cup qualifiers. The tournament is scheduled to be held in China next year.

The Blue team will face Yemen in the second round on Thursday at 12:00 PM Kuwait time, before concluding their campaign with a match against hosts Cambodia on Sunday at 3:00 PM.

The national team failed to deliver the expected performance in the first half, as Japan exploited occasional defensive gaps to score four goals through Shota Fujii (15th minute), Kento Hamasaki from a penalty (35th minute), and Homari Tokuda (40th and 42nd minutes), leaving the Blue team trailing 0-4 at halftime.

In the second half, the youth national team improved its performance and appeared more cohesive defensively, thanks to the high spirit shown by Ghanem Al-Rajeeb, Abdullah Al-Qarzaei, Zain Al-Abidin Ma’arfi, and goalkeeper Rakan Al-Saeed. Croatian coach Virdo Milin attempted to bolster the attack by making several consecutive substitutions.

Abdullah Al-Qarzaei, right-back Sulaiman Jamal, Musfer Al-Adwani, and Hadi Al-Anzi made clear efforts in attack. The most dangerous attempt came for the national team through a beautiful pass from Youssef Al-Lanqawi to Hadi Al-Anzi, who shot toward the Japanese goal, but goalkeeper Shoji Muramatsu managed to save it (89th minute).