VfL Bochum will have to continue without Takuma Asano. The Japanese national team has overcome the next hurdle in the Asian Cup.
Good for Takuma Asano and the Japanese national team, bad for VfL Bochum: Japan beat Bahrain in the last sixteen of the Asian Cup in Qatar on Wednesday afternoon and are now through to the last eight. This means that VfL Bochum will have to do without its Japanese offensive star for a few more days. The quarter-final will not be played until Saturday (12:30 p.m.).
On Wednesday, after the public training session, in which new signing Agon Elezi also took part for the first time, Bochum coach Letsch still had a slight hope that he could plan with Asano in the home game against FC Augsburg this Saturday (3:30 p.m., Sky).
But now that’s not going to happen, so he’ll have to look for a replacement again.
VfL Bochum’s Asano plays in the round of 16 from the 80th minute
Japan beat Bahrain 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon, with Ritsu Doan getting the Japanese lead just after half an hour. Takefusa Kubo and Ayase Ueda scored the other goals for Japan. Asano did not come on until the 80th minute, when he replaced the scorer of the third goal for Japan, but he was still on the pitch for over twenty minutes. There was eleven minutes of added time.
In the group stage, Asano was only on the pitch in one game – the 2-1 defeat to Iraq. He also played from the start in that game. He did not collect any minutes of play in the two victories against Vietnam and Indonesia. Now in the round of 16, he was only good for a short appearance.
VfL Bochum’s Asano: Asian Cup final would be on February 10
In the quarterfinals, Japan will now face either Syria or Iran on Saturday. The two will play their round of 16 on Wednesday evening German time. Should Japan then also prevail there, the semi-final would be played in the middle of next week.
In the worst case for VfL Bochum, Asano will also be missing the following weekend for the away game at Eintracht Frankfurt on February 10. The final of the Asian Cup will also be held on that day.