Japan’s Honda quits international football after loss

Keisuke Honda announced his retirement from international football following Japan’s elimination from the World Cup at the hands of Belgium on Monday night.

The 32-year-old came off the bench late in the last-16 clash with Roberto Martinez’s side, but was unable to prevent his side from slipping to an agonising 3-2 loss.

“Today (Monday) we showed how we can proceed as Japanese football,” the former AC Milan midfielder told reporters after the match.

“I might have finished my career for the national team, but I’m happy because we have many young players following us, and I think that they will make new history for Japanese football.”

Japan held a two-goal lead in the 52nd minute following strikes from Genki Haraguchi and Takashi Inui, but Jan Vertonghen and Marouane Fellaini levelled the scores before Nacer Chadli’s injury time goal secured a dramatic win for Belgium.

“This is the last World Cup for me,” Honda added. “That’s the reality. To be perfectly honest, I wanted to take everyone to the next round but I couldn’t get the job done. I did everything I could. I did the best I could.

ROSTOV-ON-DON:

As Japan crashed out of the World Cup, in the most heartbreaking fashion, Asia’s campaign at the tournament came to an end. It was an encouraging World Cup for the continent, better than most previous tournaments. Barring Australia, every team representing the Asian confederation managed to notch a win in Russia this summer.

After Saudi Arabia’s opening day rout by hosts Russia, the overall performance of Asian teams showed that some of the continent’s top guns can hold their own at the highest level. But is the 2018 World Cup really indicative of Asia’s progress in the sport, as has been made out to be by most observers?

A look at the trends in Asian football over the last few years doesn’t quite hint at a collective progress by the continent.

Only twelve countries from Asia have qualified for the World Cup till date – one of them being Israel, who are no longer part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Another includes Australia, who joined AFC in 2006.

Of the other 10 countries, only four — Japan, Saudi Arabia,

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