Hasn't? I heard he played with Ajax and Arsenal, but declined Ajax. I wasn't asking if he was close to the NT, but wondering if he was any good.
Those were not professional matches and anyways he is not signing for the first team rather the reserves. It's too early to judge him because the only competitive matches he has had is for the U-17's. Playing against other Japanese high schools is not a good measure of skill.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/585/arg...rica-comment-mexico-and-japans-weakened-sides Where is all this bs that Japan is sending a weak side to the Copa America coming from? If someone can show me an article from a Japanese news sources that would be helpful because I can't seem to find one at all.
I guess there is an assumption on the goal.com writer's part that all of NT members come from the J-league. Far from the truth. Half of the starters will be Europe based. I'd say the JNT will be 75% strength for the copa america.
Japan is a long shot to win it but hopefully they can pull something. Wouldn't mind US either. Qatar up right now with their presentation. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/bidders/live/index.html
Waste of money in my opinion. Better spent on player development I don't know what they were thinking its only been 8 years since the 2002 world cup. You never know, with all the allegations of corruption Japan seems like one of a few that come out scotch free.
After rethinking its actually not a bad idea to bid this turn. I'm sure that they knew that they were not going to win. They are obviously preparing for the 2026 or 2030 by bidding this round. If they keep reapplying they will eventually get it.
I'm waiting for our highlights but so far, none of these presentations struck me. There's already a strong basis in Japan, with excellent railway system, security, experience of these big events, welcoming people ... We won't win but we have not less to offer than the others. What are the USA bringing ? Their presentation was funny. Basically "we are the United States so give it to us".
Yea I think they should have focused on the basis more. It really is what makes Japan stand out. Japan took them as a given and focused on Dream Friendship and Dream Teaching or whatever which is nice to see but has nothing to do with bringing the World Cup to Japan.
That was a nice presentation. I don't think we'll win anyway, but using the card of the naivety, youth, simple feelings of joy, at a time when everybody talk about how corrupted the Fifa is, could be a clever move. Also, good to see the support of Sony, one of the most important sponsors of the WC.
The following statement applies if FIFA maintains their current stance on bidding eligibility and don't change their rules again. The truth is... if Australia, Korea, or Qatar get the World Cup, it means that Japan won't be eligible for the 2026 or 2030 bids, or any other AFC nation for that matter.
I think that FIFA are waiting for China's standard of living to go up. If China ever reaches the standard of the West then the European prime time slot will not matter. They'll easily get 300-400 million Chinese alone during primetime. The hard part will be arranging a television deal with the Chinese broadcasting companies. I think that timing is key. China is soon going to peak in terms of population and the standard of living is rapidly increasing. The trick will be to find the right time to host.
Odds: 2018 Russia 1/3 England 10/3 Spain/Portugal 9/2 Belgium/Holland 25/1 2022 Qatar 1/2 Australia 5/2 USA 9/2 Japan 33/1 S Korea 40/1 I can't believe Qatar are at such good odds. If they win it just proves how corrupt FIFA is.
I'd very much rather be in Japan... but Qatar will have freaking floating island stadiums, and their stadium proposals are the most original and groundbreaking.
According to experts, Qatar's bid is technically absurd but they unleashed a big pack of money to make everybody turn their eyes.