Japan came close to reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Monday, but Takehiro Tomiyasu believes they didn’t deserve to win.

The third Arsenal player to see his country eliminated from the World Cup, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Japan lost to Croatia on penalties in the last 16 on Monday afternoon.

Japan had done well to get so far, beating Germany and Spain to make it out of the group stage, and initially taking the lead against Croatia. But after conceding to send the game to extra time and eventually penalties, they exited rather tamely in the shootout.

Missing three of their four penalties, Japan never had much of a chance of progressing on spot-kicks. Tomiyasu believes he needed to do more for the team before that.

“Of course, we are so disappointed with the result,” Tomiyasu said. “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.”

Due to Japan’s elimination, Tomiyasu should easily be available for Arsenal by the time club football returns in late December. However, it seems the defender is hoping for a bit of a break before that.

“I don’t know (about joining Mikel Arteta’s squad),” he said. “Hopefully, I can get a bit of rest. I need time to forget about football. I need a bit of time.”

That’s perfectly understandable, and only fair considering the players not involved in the World Cup got a two-week holiday before returning to training.

Both physically and psychologically, Tomiyasu needs a little bit of a break, so joining up with the Arsenal squad when they return from Dubai might be a better option.