What it means to play against Middle Eastern teams in a tournament held in the Middle East

The Japanese national team participating in the Asian Cup that began on January 12th was widely hailed as the strongest team ever. With opponents in the group stage including Vietnam, Iraq, and Indonesia, it seemed certain that they would finish first in the tournament.

However, on the 19th, they lost 1-2 to Iraq in the second group stage match. As a result, they advanced to the second place in the qualifying round. Why did they lose to Iraq when they had already beaten Germany, a team that had won the World Cup twice?

There is a reason for this that is often overlooked from a Japanese perspective.

They simply underestimated the Middle Eastern teams.

To be more specific, we underestimated the fact that we would be playing against Middle Eastern teams in a tournament held in the Middle East. Let’s get straight to the point. Of the 24 countries and regions competing in this tournament, 16 of them have a sense of camaraderie in the sense that they are either “Arabic,” “Middle Eastern,” or “Islamic.”

Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Iraq, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, Malaysia.

On the other hand, there are only eight other countries and regions: Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Australia.

Japan will play Bahrain in the first round of the final tournament tonight, but among the 16 teams that advanced from the group stage, the ratio of countries with the sense of camaraderie mentioned above to those that do not is 12:4.

Kazuo Takahashi, an international political scientist specializing in Middle Eastern studies, says that the region’s concept of borders and sense of solidarity are different from those of us living in East Asia.

“Arab countries have a strong sense of solidarity as Arab nations. One reason is that we share the Arabic language. Accents vary depending on the country or region, but these are merely differences at the dialect level, so Arabs can understand each other. We also share a glorious history.

Shortly after the rise of Islam in the 7th century, the Arabs began wars of missionary work and conquest. They were victorious in every battle, controlling a vast area stretching from the Chinese border in the east to the French border in the west. At one time, some modern-day Arabs, like Egyptian President Nasser and Iraqi President Hussein, even thought of unifying the Arab countries and bringing back that glory period. But they ended in failure,” says Takahashi.

During the match against Iraq, in which Japan lost, loud cheers for Iraq were heard. Of course, the close physical distance to Qatar may have made it easier for Iraqi supporters to attend.

On the other hand, Iraq and Qatar are both “Arab”.

Soccer sometimes brings to light situations overseas from a different angle than the news. What is the sense of solidarity between 16 of the 24 teams? Let’s discuss this while sorting out the terms “Arab,” “Middle East,” and “Islam.”