Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Brisbane: The Japan team has lauded the international longevity of midfielder Yasuhito Endo who marked his 150th appearance for the Samurai Blue with a 1-0 victory over Iraq on Friday.
Keisuke Honda netted from the spot midway through the opening half as Javier Aguirre's side stayed on top of Group D with the maximum six points, three points more than Iraq and Jordan, who defeated Palestine 5-1 earlier in the day.
Japan's qualification for the quarter-finals rests on their last first round game on Tuesday in Melbourne against the Jordanians, who are third behind Iraq on goal difference.
Endo, who turns 35 on January 28, was presented with a shirt commemorating his 150th cap from the Japan Football Association after his country's second straight win at AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015.
Man of the match Honda was gushing about the Gamba Osaka star, who was given a huge reception from the Japanese half of the crowd at Brisbane Stadium.
"It's amazing. 150 is amazing. I want to ask him myself how he's done it. I just want to say congratulations to him. He gave the Japanese people hope and dreams, many positives. He's an amazing player," said the AC Milan star.
Japan coach Aguirre was quick to echo Honda's sentiments.
"I want to say congratulations to him and I will tell him in the dressing room later," he said. "He's a very good person and very important player for us.
"Iraq have a very good midfield and that's why I asked Endo and Shinji (Kagawa) to take care of their two defensive midfielders. In the attacking aspect they played even better, but I gave Endo a rest for 30 minutes because of the humidity and heat.
"Iraq had two dangerous situations but we were able to control well these situations but because we couldn't score a second goal, we suffered right until the end."
At 150 appearances, Endo moved level with former Germany international Lothar Matthaus, a player he's looked up to throughout his career.
"It would be an insult to Matthaus if I compared myself to him," Endo said. "I'm proud of the caps I've won. It will give me something to brag about when I retire.
"Playing for the national team has been a career goal but I never thought I could get this far. But I'm not about to stop. I hope I can keep going."
Endo was generally pleased with the team performance, but he was not about to bask in his individual glory nor take a quarter-final berth for granted.
"First and foremost, I'm glad we won," he explained. "I thought we kept our shape and hopefully we can build on this. I'm happy I got to 150; it's nice to be able to mark it with a win.
"If we had taken our chances when we had them, we probably could have scored three, four more. I think we're improving tactically and we were solid defensively. We paid extra care to their set pieces and defended that well.
"If we lose to Jordan, there's no telling what can happen. We need to take the lessons from this game and apply them to the next one. We want to win the group and hope to be better when we're attacking."
Photo: WSG