Japan will host the EEAF championship for the fourth time, and in the first game, they will meet Hong Kong, which will play instead of North Korea. Japan and South Korea are the favourites to win as China and Hong Kong have nowhere near as good a team to match them. Japan is perhaps the first favourite because they will be playing in front of their home crowd. The first obstacle should not pose a danger because the Hong Kong team is made up of players who play in the domestic and Chinese leagues, which currently cannot be compared in terms of quality to the Japanese one. There are 10 first-time selections to the 26-man roster, and Ryo Miyaichi returns to the national team for the first time in a decade. Five players who played in Asian qualifying were also named, including Shogo Taniguchi and Miki Yamane of Kawasaki Frontale, and Sho Sasaki of Sanfrecce Hiroshima. There are indications that the brunt of this squad will be heading to Qatar, so the time for the unit to develop chemistry is now. This is a very strong Japanese team and I think they will easily win this game even though the -3.5 handicap is always difficult to play. Hong Kong doesn't have enough quality to play against Japan, especially not on their home soil.

My prediction;

Outcome: Japan to win -3.5

日本将第四次举办东亚杯锦标赛，首场比赛将迎战香港，由香港代替朝鲜出战。日本和韩国是夺冠热门，因为中国和香港没有一支强队可以与之匹敌。日本可能是第一个最受欢迎的，因为他们将在本国观众面前比赛。第一个障碍应该不会造成危险，因为香港队是由国内和中国联赛的球员组成，目前在质量上无法与日本队相比。26人名单中有10人首次入选，宫一亮十年来首次重返国家队。参加亚洲预选赛的五名球员也被提名，包括川崎前锋的谷口翔吾和山根美纪，以及广岛三箭的佐佐木翔。有迹象表明这支球队首当其冲将前往卡塔尔，因此该部队是时候发展化学了就是现在。这是一支非常强大的日本队，我认为他们会轻松赢得这场比赛，尽管-3.5 的让分总是很难打出。香港没有足够的实力与日本比赛，尤其是在客场。

预测：日本让球胜