Football5Star.com, Indonesia – Takefusa Kubo, the attacking midfielder for the Japanese national team, did not stand out at the 2023 Asian Cup event. He was even substituted by coach Hajime Moriyasu in the first match. Even when playing, Real Sociedad players’ cool actions are rarely seen.
A similar thing was seen when Japan played against Indonesia, Wednesday (24/1/2024). Even though he performed well, Kubo often lost the ball and had difficulty dribbling. This did not escape the attention of journalists. After the match ended 3-1 for Samurai Blue, he was asked about that. Kubo then pointed to the grass in the stadium as the problem.
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“It’s hard to explain if you’re just looking, not on the pitch. There were several places where I couldn’t dribble the ball even though there was no pressure from the opponent. “Because of that, I thought I had to release the ball faster,” explained Takefusa Kubo as quoted Football5Star.com from Gekisaka.
He further expressed his predicament. “Personally, that’s what I think. Sometimes I think it should be one touch even though I don’t think it should be. “However, with grass like that, I have to release the ball faster,” he said again.
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Not Just Takefusa Kubo
Not stopping there, Takefusa Kubo then threw an interesting parable. “I don’t know much about grass and I don’t know what it tastes like. However, as an analogy, it is like natto (a typical Japanese food made from soybeans with a sticky texture).” said the player who had time to gain knowledge at La Masia.
Playing on a field with grass conditions like that, Kubo admitted that it was difficult to perform as usual. He has to get around this by releasing bait as soon as possible. In fact, he said, sometimes the direction of the bait released is not as expected. It clearly disrupts the game.
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According to Kubu, he is not the only person experiencing these difficulties. “There was a situation when (Takumi) Minamino dribbled and got stuck. Under normal circumstances, I don’t think that would happen. Of course I have to find a solution, my opponent does too. So, I thought I had to release the ball as soon as possible,” said the former Real Mallorca player.
As the group phase progresses, Takefusa Kubo hopes that his game will improve in the round of 16. He was referring to the match against Indonesia. “He controlled the ball more often in that match. “Today, I had the ball more often. “In the next match, I hope to be able to move the ball more quickly and be involved in attacks,” he said.