Korean football is being directly compared with Japan. The goals for the World Cup are different.
The Korea Football Association announced on the 12th that it will host a friendly match against Paraguay domestically on October 14. The location and time are yet to be determined. Korea will face Paraguay for the first time in three years after drawing 2-2 in Suwon on June 10, 2022. Korea leads the all-time record against Paraguay with 2 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss.
The problem is that Japan is also set to have a friendly match against Paraguay at Panasonic Stadium on October 10. Paraguay will be stopping by Japan first before heading to Korea. For Korea, this will inevitably lead to a direct comparison with Japan. Paraguay will be in worse condition for the match against Japan, so there can't be any excuses about the results.
The comparison between Korea and Japan continues. Korea will embark on an away trip to the United States in September to face the U.S. national team on the 7th and the Mexican national team on the 10th. Japan will also face Mexico on the 7th and the U.S. on the 10th around the same time. The performances of Korea and Japan will inevitably be directly compared.
The Japanese media outlet 'Cococara' reported, "Japan was the fastest in the world to confirm its qualification for the North and Central America World Cup finals. Since the end of the last Qatar World Cup, Japan has seriously set its World Cup goal as 'winning' and has spent three years working towards it. While no one considers Japan a favorite to win, the Japan Football Association is steadily progressing with a long-term plan."
Japan's best World Cup performance is reaching the Round of 16. Some argue that it is excessive for Japan, which hasn’t progressed past the quarter-finals, to aim for victory. However, the fact that Japan is setting long-term goals and steadily achieving its milestones is something Korea should learn from.
Korea has vaguely set a goal of reaching the Round of 16 in the World Cup but lacks a concrete plan for execution. This media noted, "The comparison between Japan and Korea is inevitable. Korea states that its goal is vaguely the Round of 16 in the World Cup, but it is lacking in the attitude to look back at the process and analyze what the problems are. In contrast, Japan is progressing step by step."
Korea and Japan face the same opponents, but if the outcomes of their matches yield different insights, there is a problem. Korea needs to heed the criticisms from the Japanese media.
[OSEN]