AFCON & Asian Cup run down
Arsenal have a few players on international duty at the moment, representing their respective countries at AFCON and the Asian Cup and last night was the first chance we got to see some action in what is set to be two great tournaments.
Japan faced off against Vietnam and left victorious after a dominant game of football. Vietnam came back into the game early on but it was not enough to worry the favourites. Japan has been In unbelievable form for a long time and on paper, were the most likely to win but Vietnam put up a big fight in the first half and didn’t make it easy for the Japanese side.
Takehiro Tomiyasu wasn’t named in the 23-man squad to face Vietnam and was a big loss at the back for the Japanese side. Tomiyasu was selected but Japan looks to be taking It easy on the defender after being out for a while due to injury. It’s been reported that Tomiyasu travelled to Qatar with Japan but started off doing 1 on 1 training and not group sessions, it was reported a few days ago that he had finally started to train with the team, and I can only assume that they just didn’t want to risk him against Vietnam.
In a squad of 26, only 23 can be named on a match day so it’s not unusual to be seeing a few names missing and Arsenal and Japanese fans will be hoping it’s just a precaution and the talented defender can get back into the good form he was displaying right before his injury. Japan next play Iraq later this week and hopefully we get to see Tomiyasu back in the squad.
Mohammed Elneny’s Egypt faced off against Mozambique in what was a somewhat shocker of a game, Egypt going into the game as clear favourites but Mozambique really took it to them, scoring two quick goals in the second half and Egypt being lucky to receive a penalty in the dying seconds and walk away sharing the points.
Elneny started and played just under 80 minutes of football, starting in centre midfield, the Arsenal midfielder had a decent game but would have definitely liked to see a bit more of the ball, having 57 touches throughout the match. He worked hard in the middle of the pitch but probably wasn’t at his very best. Having not played for a while he will probably need a bit more time to get going properly but Arsenal fans will be watching from afar and backing our longserving midfielder.
Egypt play Ghana next in what should be a action packed game and Arsenal fans will be hoping to see a lot more of Elneny as his country tries to win the AFCON tournament.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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