Korea-Japan rivalry is becoming a very one-sided affair

Korean national senior and youth football teams have suffered five consecutive 3-0 losses against Japan in the last two and a half years, revealing a significant gap in football level between the two countries

Korea's Cho Young-wook, right, in action during an AFC U-23 Asian Cup match against Japan at Pakhtakor Central Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on June 13, 2022. [YONHAP]

Five consecutive 3-0 losses.

That is the combined results of the Korean national senior and youth teams in five matches against age-old rivals Japan over the last two and a half years.

The results speak for themselves and tell a very concerning story — Korea is currently nowhere near Japan's level when it comes to international football.

That is not to say that Korea is currently doing badly — the senior team reached the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the U-20 squad made it to the semifinals of the U-20 World Cup this year — but the game here is just not progressing as far as it is in Japan, especially when it comes to facing each other.

It's a tough pill to swallow, but the Korean football machine is slowly coming to terms with the idea that Japan have pulled ahead by some distance. The JoongAng Ilbo even directly asked 30 people from the Korea Football Association including current managers and players on the national team — 80 percent of respondents admitted that Japan has surpassed Korea.

When asked why things were so bad, the most common answer from survey respondents was the size of the sport in each country — Korea has 116,000 registered football players, a fraction of Japan's 826,000. The same is also true at the youth level, with Korea having less than 1,000 registered youth clubs operated nationwide to Japan's 15,000.

Of course, Japan has a significantly higher population, at over 125 million to Korea's 51 million, but that difference does not come close to accounting to the disparity between the number of active players.

“There is a greater possibility that 11 great players can be found among 1 million players than 10,000 players,” a football official who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on the condition of anonymity said. “Quality hides inside quantity.”

Former footballer Ahn Hyo-yeon, who is now the Dongguk University Football Club manager, agrees that it is simply a numbers game.

“Korea occasionally sees some great players like Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain or Bae Jun-ho of Daejeon Hana Citizen, but Japan has another 10 players that might not be as good as Bae, but play with a similar style,” Ahn said.

The survey participants also blamed Korea's longstanding focus on victories and medals over player development.

“We need to teach young players the basics and skills well, but the reality is that coaches cannot ignore results,” Korea University football team manager Shin Yon-ho said. “[Korean football] has survived thanks to such talents as Cha Bum-kun, Park Ji-sung, Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in.”

Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich, left, and Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain [AFP/YONHAP]

The lack of players active overseas could also be a factor.

Korea has 28 players based in Europe, while Japan has 136. The difference is still huge despite multiple Korean players joining European teams this summer — Cho Gue-sung to Danish team FC Midtjylland and Yang Hyun-jun and Kwon Hyeok-kyu to Scottish side Celtic.

In the first and second divisions of the top four European leagues — England, Spain, Germany and Italy — nine Korean footballers and 27 Japanese players compete. The Koreans might be more prominent — at least in the case of Tottenham's Son and Bayern's Kim — but once again, it's a numbers game.

Mandatory military service for Korean players is another issue. All able-bodied Korean men have to serve in the military for one-and-a-half year, which interferes with the players’ careers.

Even the players who are good enough to compete in Europe are reluctant to move there, as they are required to return to Korea before turning 27 to fulfill the military service.

The only way for them to be exempt from the mandatory service is to shine on the international stage with the national team, like winning a gold medal at the Asian Games or a bronze medal at the Olympics. The other option is to complete your military service early in your career with the military football team, and then move to Europe at a later date.

Son and Kim were exempt from military service after earning a gold at the 2018 Asiad, while both Cho and Oh have already completed their service.

“Revamping the structure of military exemptions, which currently only applies to those who shine in international tournaments, is unavoidable if we want young players to be able to start their careers in Europe,” former Olympic football team manager Kim Hak-bum said.

Then-Olympic Korean football team manager Kim Hak-bum instructs his players during a match against Romania at Kashima Soccer Stadium in Kashima, Japan on July 25, 2021. [KPPA]

Japanese players, on the other hand, do not face any big obstacles that interrupt their careers.

Japan even established an overseas branch of its football association in Dusseldorf, Germany after the amount of Japanese footballers in Germany increased significantly — 35 players in total across the first to fourth divisions in the country.

Not just the football association, but Japanese clubs are also active in supporting moves to Europe.

“Cerezo [Osaka] has youth clubs in three areas near where the team is located, with the team teaching up to 2,000 youth players,” Japanese team Cerezo Osaka Sporting Director Satoshi Kajino said. “Our core objective is to develop players competent enough to play on the international stage.”

The Japanese players even lower their salaries in order to play in Europe, even if it is in a lower league, as opposed to moving to Chinese or Middle Eastern leagues that offer much bigger salaries.

With such combined efforts, Japan was able to have a squad filled with Europe-based players at last year’s World Cup — 20 out of 26 players were based in Europe — and reach the round of 16 after beating strong competitors like Germany and Spain in the group stage.

The Japanese national team poses for a photo before a 2022 Qatar World Cup match against Spain at Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on Dec. 2, 2022. [YONHAP]

While Korea had eight Europe-based players at the World Cup, they still showed improvements from past tournaments, as they reached the knockout stage for the first time in 12 years.

“I admit that Japanese players are good,” a senior national team player said. “But there have been cases like Kim Min-jae where a player became world-class after going through Korea’s youth development system. Developing each individual player’s competence is a way to narrow the gap between the two countries.”

BY SONG JI-HOON AND PARK RIN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]