What is it with the youth of Japan and unforgettable set piece routines? Every year we're visiting the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament to watch some team perform Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake before scoring, so it comes as no surprise that when all the finest young Samurai Blue minds come together to represent Japan at the U-17 level, magic happens.
The squad reached the final of the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup by beating Iran 3-0 on Thursday, and we're here to look at the third, scored by 16-year-old Ryunosuke Sato from 20 yards out.
To even take the free kick, Sato had to first defeat a teammate in rock-paper-scissors. Then he waited as one guy faked an approach to shoot (twice) before another ran over the ball. We entered the third act, which was Sato going under the wall to beat the keeper.
Piedra, papel, tijera y GOLAZO!El #10 de Japón y mediocampista del #FCTokyo Ryunosuke Sato volvió a demostrar su talento: Lindo gol de tiro libre por abajo de la barrera.
✂️ Antes de patear, Sato y Nawata definieron el pateador con Piedra, Papel y tijera pic.twitter.com/3baG4SqGDE
— Fútbol de Samurais (@FutbolSamurais) June 29, 2023
Rock, paper, scissors, shoot❗
Ryunosuke Sato beats his teammate in ✌before smashing in the free-kick#AFCU17 | #IRNvJPN pic.twitter.com/Ij7Cf0yVsx— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) June 29, 2023
If you watch the replay closely, it looks like Sato beat his teammate by throwing paper three straight times. That strategy is referred to as "The Bureaucrat" and definitely foreshadowed more sneakiness to come.
I like the scissor sandwich (paper-scissors-paper).
Japan plays South Korea in the final on Sunday.
