A little tidbit in regards to FIFA ranking and points. As you may be aware of Japan is currently ranked 45th with 692 points. Now as this game will round off a very quiet April of international matches this means all other teams' movements can be factored in already. So basically if Japan wins Japan will move up to 43rd with 701 points while a draw or a loss will see Japan retain 45th place but will be down to 683 points or 674 points respectively.
Not to downplay your contribution (my gripe isn't with you but the system), but frankly... who gives a fk about Coca Cola bottlecap points? In the context of AFC, they're essentially meaningless.
Preferred lineup tonight. [LINEUP-4-5-1]Okazaki, Yamase, Nakamura, Endo, Ishikawa, Abe, Nagatomo, Nakazawa, Kurihara, Uchida, Narazaki[/LINEUP-4-5-1] Endo and Abe as the central midfielders as Abe's apparently been quite good, and I'd like to see Abe there as an option for Hasebe cause I don't think Inamoto will quite cut it. Then later, try Tamada on for Ishikawa at the 65th, and followed by Nagai for Okazaki in the 80th. And Inamoto for Abe at half-time.
""The quality of players and the communication is better," Inamoto told Reuters Tuesday. "The coach (Takeshi Okada) has the team playing good football. The level has improved." If this is what he said, is Ina on crack? http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/04/06/sports/sports-uk-soccer-japan-inamoto.html
Tamada and Uchida are injured and Okada said he wont risk them, Tokunaga will start at right back. Abe will start from beginning from what i know.
You were probably in a hurry, as you somehow forgot to mention the source FIFA Ranking: April 2010 preview (I).
There's nothing strange about that. Most leagues are active in April and obviously, there are no available FIFA dates.
that must've been offside when that serbian broke forward.... both CB's were at the bottom of the centre circle and the serbian was well past there.
alright lets not flap our arms about and call for okada to be sacked just yet. not offside either. Kurihara has got to go....Makino
I am wondering if finally everybody realizes how Japan has regressed under Okada... 30m like these,in the WC, and Japan can already pack-up... Don't worry anyway, we have Yano on the bench!
We'll never see this team again, no worries. But it sucks. What's the point in making a midfield with Inamoto - Abe - Endo - Nakamura ? There's no speed, no penetration. Great passing ... useless.
OK, but you can't be sure to have all starters in S.Africa either. That can be solved if the team has a "soul," but this clearly doesn't have one. Look how hungry are the Serbians...
Seems to me that the boys don't take this game seriously and the Serbians do. Well I wouldn't be surprised since they jetted all the way from Serbia to Japan and expect a win and they all have their own personal agendas. Take that Kurihara guy out, he's terrible. Narazaki is rusty also.
Impressive, I wouldn't say that ... They defend, well. Two great counter-attacks. But they have to thank us first, because we are the one making atrocious mistakes ... Wait for Endo to penetrate, to Inamoto to dribble to create our first goal ! What an illogical team ...