Japan U21 Squad Targets Asian Games Gold as Fukuma Yukiya Flags South Korea as Biggest Hurdle

Japan's men's national team, coached by Takeshi Oya, will compete at the Asian Games with a U21 squad, aiming for the gold medal. 21-year-old midfielder Fukuma Yukiya (Kawasaki Frontale) sat down for a conversation with Asian Games ambassador Kazuya Ninomiya. Ninomiya expressed surprise that the team was assembled on such short notice. Fukuma confirmed that there was no training camp within the month after the squad announcement, and the players have been gelling through meetings and communication. Not all overseas-based players have joined up, which he described as a regular occurrence. When asked about the biggest rival, Fukuma stated clearly that South Korea is the primary opponent, noting that Japan has historically been dominated by South Korea at the Asian Games, leaving a lingering sense of frustration. South Korea enters as the defending champions with four consecutive titles and are looking to secure a fifth straight. The South Korean squad is built around U23 players and makes full use of three overage slots, while Japan fields an entirely U21 roster with no overage players. At the previous edition of the Asian Games, Japan under Oya reached the final but fell to South Korea. The two sides are placed in different groups, meaning any meeting between them would have to wait until the knockout rounds. Japan opens its campaign against Hong Kong on the 16th.