Southampton: Yoshida and Japan into Asian Cup Quarter-Finals
By Marc Walker
Southampton defender Maya Yoshida captained Japan to the Asian Cup Quarter-Finals after a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia yesterday.
A solitary goal from Yoshida’s fellow centre-back Takehiro Tomiyasu 20 minutes into the contest proved to be the winner and saw Japan maintain their 100% record in the tournament so far.
They now progress to the last eight and will face Vietnam, who saw off Jordan on penalties in their round of 16 clash.
The Japanese will be among the favourites to win the competition along with other high-profile sides such as Australia and South Korea.
Many players who are based in the Premier League have travelled to take part in the United Arab Emirates, including Spurs forward Heung-min Son, Brighton goalkeeper Mathew Ryan and Newcastle striker Yoshinori Muto.
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Yoshida has played three of his country’s three matches at the tournament so far and progression to the final stages could see him miss a significant number of Saints games.
He played the full 90 minutes in the opening 3-2 victory over Turkmenistan and 1-0 wins over Oman and Saudi Arabia, but was rested for the final Group F game against Uzbekistan which resulted in a 2-1 win.
Japan have won the Asian Cup the most times of any country with their four previous victories and their results so far could hint at another upcoming triumph.
Before heading out the UAE to compete, Yoshida had worked himself back into a regular starting role for Saints.
The 30-year-old had been fielded centrally in a three-man central-defence under manager Ralph Hasenhuttl but will have to fight for his place again when he returns back to England.
He has been a reliable presence for Saints to look to on many occasions in the past and has shown significant improvement since his early years at the club.
Yoshida joined Saints back in 2012 and the service that he has given the club has made his £2.5m fee from VVV-Venlo seem very good business.
His current contract at the club runs until June 2020 but transfermarkt.com shows that there is the option to extend for a further year.