Takahara has scored 5 goals in the recent 6 games. Takahara is always good when he plays with Yanagisawa.
Just checked right now. It does look like people at German board were indeed more impressed with Japan team than whoever wrote the report at BBC.
Set pieces will decide who advances and who goes home. This is still one advantage that the established European teams have over others. It is great to see Japan get some goals. My biggest complaint about this team is that they don't score enough goals. Hopefully this will be the start. In the first goal that shot by Takahara was really great!!!
My customary long post What's interesting about this for me is how underestimated Japan (or any Asian side) is in Europe, and I say that sincerely, purely from academic point of view. There are varying degrees of it depending on which country, but overall there is a similarity in that a "myth" surrounds Japan. I see this as an advantage. Every European source I've come across, including bookmakers, generally see Japan among the weakest side in this year's World Cup, but I'm not too sure about that. The midfield is more than a match in any game at this level, and with a sufficient performance (never mind the usual luck) from the forwards, Zico Japan is logically a formidable side. I maintain that the reason for this disparity is as follows: 1. So-called "Famous" players In Europe, Nakata and Inamoto seem to be the stereotype of Japan. Nakata, because he's well publicized and Inamoto because he was a match winner in 2002. You ask an average joe (pundit or no) about Japan, their reaction usually revolves around what they see in Nakata and Inamoto. Judging Japan by looking at them will result in a catastrophic misjudgement of the side's strength. 2. Style of Play Japan players seem to shine when they play in "their" style, amongst themselves. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that Japan has its own brand of football, and in recent months it's really beginning to kick in even against European sides. Domestically, European based Japan players play in the context of European style football which tends to suppress what is truly immense about Japan players. Most pundits et al in Europe don't quite understand this "difference of context". Probably because they haven't seen anything like it before. Again, this leads to a misjudgement of quality Zico Japan potentially has. In-your-face individual play is the yardstick of world football, and Japan's style is incompatible with this yardstick, yet European audience will still use that yardstick to decide what Japan NT is like. Again, this leads to a misjudgement. -- Overall, I think it's exciting that most people don't know half the Japan squad. I see good performance in Zico's squad. Of course Japan still has a lot to prove, but it's clear to me that misunderstanding Japanese brand of football will turn into an element of surprise. It only takes one goal drilled in from the midfield to win a game. The game may go on for 90 odd minutes, yet it only takes one silky smooth passing to unlock the goal. Zico seems to have focussed on scoring from anywhere everywhere in recent weeks, and it showed against Scotland as well. Just ONE of those can win a game for Japan, and that's very bizarre from European perspective as the quality of strikers is usually the benchmark of the whole side.
Very interesting and valid point you made here. Having Japan misunderstood could very well lead to our advantage indeed. For famous players, I think they will include Nakamura and possibly Takahara, if only because they play for relatively big clubs. It's definitely an advantage when they don't know about Oguro, Fukunishi, Kaji, Miyamoto, Kawaguchi and all others! Just because not all of the starters are in the big clubs of Europe doesn't mean Japan is lacking in talent. Japan's style was modeled after many nations from time to time, but now it has a unique style. Unlike European countries, we don't really zone-press at high point and keep our defense line at comparatively low place. Yet we don't play defensively nor rely on counterattacks; we pass around the ball from our side until we get to the other side. While if this style is effective against world's best still remains to be seen, it certainly is unique and not well understood. I like to call it "free-flow" style. Japan has often been criticized for lack of good strikers, but when you look at the scorelines Japan has it's not much different from the qualified teams from Europe. MFs tend to score, but that doesn't mean FWs are slacking. I don't regard Japan as a world-class power and not many people do. But that could change with this World Cup.
Well I wouldnt get ahead of yourselves, and Im coming from a slightly supportive view for Japan Nationals. But honestly, this is the first good performance by you guys in a long time. The string before this was worrisome to say the least. Hoping this sets the precedence.
A very good synopsis of how poorly the European media have evaluated the Japan NT. The only thing I would add is that there is a uniquely Japanese tendency to focus on the points that fall short of perfection, rather than boasting about what is good. Even other Asian fans tend to talk up their own team and get boastful about their skill and quality (nothing necessarily wrong with that, but the point is . . . ) Anyone who reads regular reviews of the Japan NT, whether in Japanese or in English, will get the impression that Japanese fans dont think their team is very good. But again, that is a misimpression, based on the assumption that if Japan were any good, the fans would be boasting. They dont seem to see that this is simply a reflection of perfectionism, and not getting complacent even when you win. However, in my view, this still doesnt quite explain the situation. Japan may be a very strong team at times, but how do you explain the crap performances against weak Asian opponents? Perhaps the closest you have come to addressing this point is your final comment about how Japan play in "their" style, amongst themselves. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that Japan has its own brand of football . . . . . Most pundits et al in Europe don't quite understand this "difference of context". Certainly, part of the problem that Japan has against weaker teams stems from their lack of a killer instinct, and that is especially true among the strikers. But I also think that this unique style you refer to is a contributing factor. Look at the J.League. I think that there are some very good teams in the J1, yet while they can often produce amazing football when they play another top team, they can turn around and lose to a club at the bottom of the table, the very next week. Japan's "style", if you can call it that, involves mistake-free defensive play punctuated by sudden bursts of inspirational, reactive attacks. What Japanese teams DONT do well is create patient and tactically conventional offence. When Japan plays against a stacked defence, they can look really awful. Over the years, the teams that have won the J.Leaguye championships are the ones who can -- at least occasionally -- do the job through patient buildup and sound tactics. But the truly exciting teams, and often the ones who win cup titles, are teams that can employ the "Japan style" of sudden creative vision to break open close matches. When you play a weaker team that stacks the defence, you may have a low risk of conceding goals, but you also have only a very small number of opportunities for this type of creative vision to be used effectively. On the other hand, against a strong opponent, you may spend most of the match defending, and your risk of conceding a goal is a lot higher. But the number of opportunities to create a scoring chance through creative vision is at least as much, and probably even higher. Both of Japan's goals, and two of their almost-goals against Germany came on plays that just appeared out of nothing. And it wasnt just one player making a brilliant pass or move -- it was four or five players all reacting in unison, in a type of team creativity that you hardly ever see except in the very top of the top leagues in Europe. The reason why Japan is underrated by European viewers is that people look at the overall match and say "they played brilliantly for 90 seconds and mediocre for 88 1/2 minutes" Conclusion: Theyre a little bit better than mediocre. But this misses the element about Japan's football style that makes it so unique and dangerous against top opponents. The thing is, when two teams are playing at that high a level of competition, 90 seconds of brilliance is more than enough to win a match. If Japan can just avoid making mistakes in the other 88 1/2 minutes (like not conceding so many free kicks), the 90 seconds of brilliance can give them a victory. The only worry is that against mediocre opponents, who spend most of their time defending, the equation is reversed. Even five minutes of brilliance may not be enough to offset 85 minutes of mediocrity.
Another well-written and interesting post here. Japan plays well against the strong teams yet plays badly against weak teams. The results give an impression of "Why can't you play like you did against Brazil in 2005 all the time?" Let's hope Japan's "spark" works in World Cup as well.
after 2002............... Japan 1-2 France Japan 1-0 Czech Republic Japan 1-1 England Japan 1-0 Serbia&Montenegro Japan 1-0 Greece Japan 2-2 Brazil Japan 2-2 Germany not bad
man...fukunishi got straight punked on the schwenstieger goal. and komano was straight ball watching. show some more heart boys. good result eitherway.
Thanx for the clips. Nice goals, the first one by Japan very well worked. I expected nothing less from Japan. I had the opportunity to watch quite a few Japan’s recent friendlies and despite the disappointing results, and not all the A players playing in those games and the self-criticism here on the Japan board, I actually like Japan’s style of play, which I have mentioned before, and see much potential. Out of the 4 Asian sides (plus Australia) I would put my money on Japan or Australia getting to the knock out stages. Of course they are in the same group so im somewhat improving the odds, but still I see a good run by Japan in Germany.
On the vening news they did have any infornmation on the extent of the injury to Kaji other than it was a bad ankle sprain. I suspect it will take a day or two to reduce swelling and see how bad it is.
Tragically it only takes a few moments of magic from the opposing side for Japan to lose a game as well, so it goes both ways. But for me that doesn't make any difference to the fact that Japan is definitely underestimated at the moment. It is an advantage. By the way, The Old Lady Hertha's goals avi link results in "Download-session invalid.". I'm not going via proxy either. Any one know what the prob is?
Makoto Tanaka Out of the world cup! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/japan/5033628.stm Replaced by the in my opinion the much better Moniwa But i feel very sorry for Makoto as this was his last chance at a world cup
I just saw clips from the match in youtube....man you guys should kick ass in the World Cup. I really hope you make it as far as Korea or maybe even making to the final. Its possible.
Hey everyone, I should have some links to the full Germany-Japan match, probably tomorrow. I'll let everyone know by then. After watching the full match, after work this evening. I'm definitely impressed by Takahara's 2 goals, and Japan's counter-attacks during the match. I just hope that Kaji is alright. Hopefully, the swelling will go down after a day or two, and should be ok, at least I hope so. Just have to continue to work on set-pieces on defense. VN
I'm not happy with this result. I was hoping the game would end at 2-0. I just remember that some German media criticized saying Japan NT would be at the bottom of the group. Thank you very much. But hey, your NT couldn't beat such a bad team. Anyway, at the moment, Germany has been ranked after Japan in FIFA ranking for how long?? (in March, was way behind Japan) I know it's not a reliable ranking though.....
Lets say, Germany didn't kick into Japan's hole and it ended 2-0. What if, then, Zico Japan went over the moon, unaware of the problems, and made those errors in WC2006 instead of in a friendly?