'My performance was a disaster': £15.5m Arsenal player says he was absolutely shocking at the World Cup

By Ben Evans

A number of Arsenal players have been fighting to keep their countries at the World Cup during the knockout stages.

Gabriel Martinelli helped Brazil qualify last night, while Bukayo Saka played a leading role for England against Senegal.

However, one Arsenal player – as per The Athletic – was very disappointed with his performance.

The other last-16 match yesterday involved Japan and Croatia.

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu made his first start of the tournament as part of a back-three.

It’s a role he’s familiar with, having played there when he first arrived at The Emirates.

Japan were 1-0 at half-time thanks to a goal from Celtic forward Daizen Maeda.

However, Tottenham’s Ivan Perisic equalised shortly after the break, and the game eventually went to penalities.

Tomiyasu didn’t step up, but his Japanese teammates struggled from 12 yards, and lost the shootout 3-1.

It was a disappointing way for Japan and Tomiyasu’s time at the World Cup to end.

Japan earned plenty of fans after the group stage, where they defeated Spain and Germany.

But Tomiyasu doesn’t believe he’s come out of the tournament with much credit, and was very disappointed with his performance.

Tomiyasu furious with final World Cup performance

After the match, the Japanese defender was understandably upset speaking to the media.

“Of course, we are so disappointed with the result, my performance was a disaster today so I am sorry for the team.

“I just need to be much, much better to help the team. It was not enough and also for the team, we did not deserve to win.

“We were so close to achieving our aim. They were better than us.”

“I can’t be proud, I am not satisfied about what happened.

“This is football and we need to be much, much better to win against a stronger team.”

The £15.5m full-back would have hoped to play a bigger role for Japan in Qatar.

He had a brilliant chance to score against Croatia, but instead made the wrong choice and tried to find a teammate.

Tomiyasu gained plenty of credit for his performances at the World Cup from the Japanese media.

However, he clearly sets incredibly high standards for his performances.

He’s lost his position at Arsenal to Ben White, and was forced to play at left-back before the break.

Tomiyasu will hope he can break back into the team when the Premier League restarts this month.