Re: Japan at the 2010 World Cup Now after the groupstages I've decided to post what I think of some of the players thus far. Nakazawa - Seriously, has he ever been better? Not to late for 2 years abroad. A lot of clubs most want him now, he is so fcking good. Same goes for Tulio. They win EVERYTHING together. Nagatomo - Like this little player. If Bologna and Mallorca wanted him before the WC alot of more clubs want him now. Abe - Another player we've critisized in here alot, mostly when Okada put him at the CB position but the DM suits him perfect. What a WC from him.
Re: Japan at the 2010 World Cup Nakazawa retired from international football after the 2006 FWC. I'm not religious but I think we really owe this world cup group stage performance to him coming back when Osim begged. If not, this probably wouldn't have happened. He was flawless. He will probably retire on top and not do a Cannavaro. Will be remembered for ever what a champion. Not gonna lie, I fancy our chances against Paraguay. New Zealand held them 0-0 earlier. Kudos to NZ they had a great tournament. Infact it proves the quality of A-League a bit.
Re: Japan at the 2010 World Cup Now it's time for him to play in Europe. Not sure about that but probably he'll be one of the recignizible Japanes players after Nakata, Hasebe and Honda. I can see a bright future for this one (yes, I watched his perfomances in J League and couldn't understand why he's still in Japan).
Re: Japan at the 2010 World Cup Birmingham is reportedly considering. There is interest from the two clubs you mention as well as from Cesena and BVB. He is 23, it's perfect time to go abroad.
Re: Japan at the 2010 World Cup It was one of the best performances in perhaps the best game of the WC so far. Looking forward to following them further........
Re: Japan at the 2010 World Cup Nakazawa played really well this morning! As did all the team. Though I do wish Okubo would pass more when he gets near goal! A couple of times he had another player he could lay off to in a better position, and he took a long range pot-shot which sailed way off the mark. Cant remember exactly when it was, but in the second half, he gained half a yard, with a few Danes round him, and he took his shot, and it must have ended up mid-way up the block behind the goal at least! What marked it out was the fact that Honda was clear, with no one in front, and the goalie out of position (for him). He threw an absolute fit! Not happy! Honda played amazingly as well. Cracking goal, plenty of excellent play, and a very unselfish lay-off for the third goal, when he must have been tempted to hang on and try himself. And all this despite the referee doing his best to steal the limelight! Booking Endo for timewasting whilst getting set up for a free kick, but then barely even getting round to telling the Danes to hurry up when they took just as long! And the PK, well, I have my doubts! I can see why he gave it, but it did look to me, like the Dane did deliberately jump in front of the Japanese player and nt trying too hard to stay on his feet! OK. Moving on. And to the point why I am quoting above. Paraguay. I know New Zealand held them 0-0, which was a fantastic result. But just to add a note of caution. For Paraguay, this game was a dead rubber. Paraguay had already qualified, and they did not NEED to win this. They did not need to risk injury to gain a result they absolutely needed. Not to take anything away from NZ, they did really well to hold them off. But the stats do show that Paraguay had a lot of the chances, and possession, and positioning (OK, I know they didnt score!). This game is far more important. It is winner takes all thing. I expect Paraguay to be far more up for it for this next game, than against NZ. The odds are for Paraguay to win. However, the Japanese are now playing with a lot more fluidity than I have seen for a long time, and a lot of belief in themselves. Japan really does stand a chance in this!