Japanese soccer is on a high alert due to an unexpected day... Three 'Ace included' national team members are on the verge of relegation for the first time → "Shock Ending" crisis theory spreads

Japanese soccer is on a high alert due to an unexpected day... Three 'Ace included' national team members are on the verge of relegation for the first time → "Shock Ending" crisis theory spreads

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As Stade Reims, where many Japanese national team players play, is on the verge of relegation, a sense of crisis is spreading in Japanese soccer.

Japan Football Zone shed light on the crisis theory of the Japanese national team on the 18th (Korea time), saying, "The prestigious club, which includes three Japanese national team players, is on the verge of being demoted to the second division. Junya Ito made efforts to record help, but he ended up heading to the promotion and playoffs amid a shocking ending."

Reims was confirmed to be 16th in the league after losing 1-2 to LOSC Lille in the final match of the French League 1 in 2024-2025 season on the 18th. Reims, ranked 16th in the league, has to play in the promotion and playoffs. The opponent team was confirmed as the Mets, who ranked third in the French League 2. 스포츠토토

If Reims is demoted by the Mets, it will incur huge losses in Japanese soccer. Currently, Reims has three players, including Junya Ito, a core member of the Japanese national team, Keito Nakamura, and Hiroki Sekine.

Ito is an indispensable player in the Japanese national team, as he has one goal and seven assists in eight matches in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. The same applies to Nakamura. Nakamura, who has been called by the Japanese national team since 2023, has been in the Japanese national team since the 2023 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup. He has played in six of the eight recent Japanese A matches, raising his stock price. Sekine is not yet the mainstay of the Japanese national team, but he is a promising player who is recognized as Japan's future as he was selected for the first time in March.
If all three players are relegated to League Two, it may be difficult to escape from the team easily. Generally, when a team is demoted, all of its main players are sold off, but Reims may not be willing to sell key players with a strong will to promote.

Or, they may not be able to leave the team because they are not as interested in the transfer market as they think. Nakamura, who showed promise by scoring 11 league goals, will try to take him from another team, but the other two players are not in a good situation.

In the case of Ito, he only scored four goals and five assists in the league as the starting member of the Reims, showing poor performance in the last two seasons. Sekine joined the team in the middle of this season and played as the starting member, but it is difficult to assess that his adaptation in Europe is perfect yet. He still has hope to stay, but for Japan, he has no choice but to worry.

Ahead of the World Cup next summer, it is naturally a loss for the national team to spend one season in the second division.