TOKYO (Kyodo) — Two-goal hero Ritsu Doan was voted Japan’s player of the tournament at the recent World Cup in Qatar, according to the results of a poll released Friday by Sanno University.
The 24-year-old Freiburg attacker scored levelers in Japan’s historic 2-1 comeback wins over Germany and Spain to help his country top the daunting Group E.
Doan was selected by 199 of the 1,000 respondents to the survey conducted by the university’s Sports Management Research Center in late December following the tournament.
Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, meanwhile, had the biggest leap in public recognition among Japanese players after his scintillating displays in the Middle East.
The 25-year-old, whose assist for Ao Tanaka’s winner against Spain stood after the video assistant referee ruled the ball remained in play by millimeters, was only recognized by 28.3 percent of the 10,000 who responded to an earlier poll in November before the World Cup.
But his recognition surged by 29.0 points to 57.3 percent in the follow-up poll in December.
Manager Hajime Moriyasu got the backing of 45.0 percent of respondents to the second survey, conducted before the Japan Football Association’s Dec. 28 announcement that he would remain in the role through the 2026 World Cup.
Although the 54-year-old guided Japan to their first successive World Cup knockout stages, 5.8 percent said a change in manager was desirable, with some 49.2 percent unsure.
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