The sparkle of “Inazuma” defeats Germany and Turkey! Junya Ito changes the concept of “players in their 30s

Moriyasu Japan greatly raised its global reputation with comfortable 4-1 and 4-2 victories over European powerhouses Germany and Turkey, respectively. Germany dismissed coach Hans Flick (58) and Turkey sacked Stefan Kunz (60) immediately after the match against Japan on September 9. Japan is likely to be feared as a “coach killer” by other countries.

Junya Ito (Stade Reims), 30, aka “Junya Inazuma,” shined brightly in those two games. Against Germany, he scored the first goal in the 11th minute and assisted Kisei Ueda’s (25, Feyenoord) second goal in the 22nd minute. Against Turkey, he came on at the beginning of the second half, just as Japan was falling behind, and scored the fourth goal, a penalty kick taken by the Japanese defender with tremendous speed. He was able to score the game-winning goal.

I was given the penalty kick by myself, so I was determined to kick it myself,” he said. （I was given the penalty kick by myself, so I was determined to kick it by myself.

Ito, who had a bittersweet memory of taking penalties, was relieved.

When I was in Genk, there was a penalty shootout against Antwerp (in the Belgian Cup in December 2019), and we lost because I missed a penalty kick. Since then, I had a feeling that I didn’t like penalty kicks, or rather, I wasn’t good at them, so I hadn’t kicked any for a long time. To begin with, it was the first time I kicked a penalty kick in a match since I became a professional. I was able to take it at Genk Stadium, so I think I was able to break the bad momentum. I think I will be able to kick with confidence from now on.

Ito has scored 12 goals for the national team, the most among the main members of the second Moriyasu Japan team. It seems likely that he will continue to add to his tally.

Ito is now, in both name and reality, an “ace-level attacker for Japan,” but compared to other players such as Kaoru Mitoma (26, Brighton), Daichi Kamata (27, Lazio), and Kubo Takefusa (22, Real Sociedad), he seems to have attracted a little less attention. Why is this? The main reason may be the difference in the prestige of the clubs they belong to.

Misumi is playing for a top club in the English Premier League, the world’s premier league, and also in the UEFA Europa League (EL) this season. Kamata and Kubo are also in the UEFA Champions League (CL). Ito, who plays for a mid-table club in France’s top five European leagues, may not be as impressive as he might have been in the past.

This season, Stade Reims’ goal is to finish in the top six in the UEFA competition (the top four finishers in France are in the CL, the fifth in the EL, and the sixth in the UEFA Conference League). My goal is to score in every game. If possible, I want to reach double digits.

He has set his sights high, but it won’t be easy.

As seen in the game against Stade Brest 29 on September 17, Stade de Reims has been in a pushy mood in the good times this season, but once they lose their rhythm, they lose their rhythm and start conceding goals. They dominated the game in the first half, but two goals in a row in the second half put the game out of reach, and they lost 1-2. Ito’s team missed a chance to move up to the top of the standings.

Ito himself was leading the attack with his best partner, Folarin Balogun (22, Monaco), who scored 21 goals last season, but Balogun and many of his attackers have moved on. However, Balogun and many of the other attackers have moved on, and the team is now playing with a new group of players, which has made it difficult for them to work together.

We are not doing well as a team,” he said. We have all new players from the midfield to the front, so there are many areas where the combination is not working well. There are also problems with quality.

One piece of good news is the addition of young FW Keito Nakamura (23), who also plays for the national team, to the team, with Nakamura joining in August on the left and Ito on the right. The “double hottie” has been attracting a lot of attention from Japanese female fans.

Ito said positively, “It is easy to say things to Keito, and it is easy for us to work together,” but it is also true that it is difficult to exchange passes or play together at close range when the players are deployed on both sides. Ito’s “Ito breaks it down and Nakamura scores the goal” is not yet concrete. This is a somewhat different relationship from the one he has with Mitsuzumi in the Japan national team.

However, Ito is also 30 years old. Stud Lance is a young team, and he is in a position to lead his teammates. He must also take the initiative in improving his relationship with attackers such as Keito Nakamura.

Although the man who has always taken things at his own pace and been at ease seems not to be good at leadership or leading roles, he is aware of this, saying, “I’m 30 now, so I have to keep a good balance.

If he can make a breakthrough with Stade Lance and make it to the UEFA tournament next season, he could reign as an absolute ace in the Japanese national team. He has that kind of ability. Depending on his performance this season, it would not be a dream for him to follow in the footsteps of Ko Endo (30, Liverpool) and step up to the next level in his 30s.

In retrospect, Ito came to Genk from Kashiwa Reysol in February 2019, when he was about to turn 26. He was a complete unknown until his days at Kanagawa University, where he started his J-League career with Van Foret Kofu.

Considering the recent trend of players like Kubo and Ritsu Douyasu (25, Freiburg), many of whom have made the challenge of playing in Europe in their teens, it seems inevitable that a player in his late 20s would take up the challenge late in life. From the very start, it was difficult to step up to the next level.

In addition, Ito, who entered the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and played in the CL in the 19-20 season and won a regular role in Japan’s national team, could have been pulled out of Europe’s top five leagues in the summer of 2020 or 2021, but he was in his 30s while the transfer market remained stagnant. Before. But the transfer market stagnated and he ended up moving to Stade Reims in the summer of 2022.

Junya Ito was the biggest breakthrough in Belgium. I never imagined he would develop like that. If Ito had been 25 or 26 years old at this point, he would have been considered a gem of a player who would have been targeted by the Premier League and other clubs .

It is said that the value of a player in his 30s drops dramatically in the European transfer market. The only way to break out of this difficult situation is to play an active role that will convince the people around him. If Junya Inazuma can show the same overwhelming performance at his club as he did in the Germany-Turkey doubleheader, he may have a great chance in the transfer market in the winter of January 2024 or in the summer of 2024.

I always think that when I play in a match, I have to produce results. I will do my best to keep up with them. In particular, Kaoru (Mitomo) is the best player right now, so I get a lot of inspiration from him.

He is ready to go to the next level while engaging in friendly competition with the left winger who is taking the world by storm.

It is rare to find a player like Ito, whose behavior and mindset do not change even as he rises in the national team. Can a man with such a natural disposition rise to the top of the top? Can he become a true ace? It will be interesting to watch.