Well, finally Japan NT met people's expectation, becoming the first team to qualify for the World Cup. As it's now 12 months ahead of the kickoff, I guess it's not too early to make some predictions Here's mine, names in bold are almost "certainty" in my opinion: Goalkeeper Narazaki Seigo Kawashima Eiji Nishikawa Shusaku Defender Nakazawa Yuji Markus Tulio Tanaka Nagatomo Yuto Uchida Atsuto Makino Tomoaki Yasuda Michihiro Yoshida Maya Midfielder Nakamura Shunsuke Endo Yasuhito Hasebe Makoto Honda Keisuke Nakamura Kengo Matsui Daisuke Abe Yuki Usami Takashi Kagawa Shinji Forward Tamada Keiji Okazaki Shinji Morimoto Takayuki Hasegawa Yu
Usami? I think Yamada has a better chance. Goalkeeper Narazaki Seigo Kawashima Eiji Ryuta Tsuzuki Defender Nakazawa Yuji Markus Tulio Tanaka Nagatomo Yuto Uchida Atsuto Makino Tomoaki Shohei Terada Daiki Iwamasu Midfielder Nakamura Shunsuke Endo Yasuhito Hasebe Makoto Honda Keisuke Nakamura Kengo Matsui Daisuke Abe Yuki Yamada Naoki Kagawa Shinji Forward Tamada Keiji Okazaki Shinji Morimoto Takayuki Yuya Osako
Goalkeeper Narazaki Seigo Kawashima Eiji Nishikawa Shusaku Defender Nakazawa Yuji Marcus Tulio Tanaka Terada Shuhei Yamaguchi Satoshi Nagatomo Yuto Uchida Atsuto Abe Shohei Midfielder Endo Yasuhito Hasebe Makoto Honda Keisuke Nakamura Kengo Abe Yuki Kagawa Shinji Yamada Naoki Kashiwagi Yosuke Yamase Koji Forward Okazaki Shinji Osako Yuya Koroki Shinzo Takahara Naohiro
Goalkeeper Narazaki Seigo Kawashima Eiji Kawaguchi Yoshikatsu Defender Nakazawa Yuji Marcus Tulio Tanaka Uchida Atsuto Nagatomo Yuto Komano Yuichi Abe Yuki Terada Shuhei Midfielder Endo Yasuhito Hasebe Makoto Nakamura Shunsuke Nakamura Kengo Kagawa Shinji Honda Keisuke Yamase Koji Matsui Daisuke Hideo Hashimoto (it was a toss up between him and Konno, but i think he will go even tho imo Konno would be a better choice) Forward Okazaki Shinji Okubo Yoshito Sato Hisato Yano Kisho (if Okada has to have a big man, I would prefer Maki or better yet Maeda, although Yano is a lot more moblie than both so he probably fits into Okada's gameplan better)
Goalkeeper Narazaki Seigo (1) Shusaku Nishikawa (2) Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (3) Defenders Nakazawa Yuji Tulio Tanaka Marcus Morishige Masato Makino Tomoaki Uchida Atsuto Nagatomo Yuto Yasuda Michihiro Midfielders Hasebe Makoto Endo Yasuhito Nakamura Kengo Suzuki Keita or Watanabe Daigo Nakamura Shunsuke Honda Keisuke Kagawa Shinji Yamase Koji or Matsui Daisuke Forwards Okubo Yoshito Tanaka Tatsuya or Morimoto Takayuki Tamada Keiji Okazaki Shinji Koroki Shinzo or Sato Hisato (2) Maeda Ryoichi (3) or Watanabe Kazuma (4)
Goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi Eiji Kawashima Defenders Yuji Nakazawa Marcus Tulio Tanaka Atsuto Uchida Yuto Nagatomo Michihiro Yasuda Masato Morishige Midfielders Yasuhito Endo Makoto Hasebe Keita Suzuki Yuki Abe Kengo Nakamura Shunsuke Nakamura Keisuke Honda Naoki Yamada Shinji Kagawa Forwards Shinji Okazaki Hisato Sato Takayuki Morimoto Yoshito Okubo Kisho Yano
Hmm, all i know for now is that i don't want players like Yano, Koroki, Tanaka (maybe). If Morimoto continues his development next season he will score more than 7 goals and then Okada can't keep his eyes closed. Alot can happen in a year now, and i hope for new faces.
What you find wrong with Koroki? This boy is a ********in' great talent, just give him the time for to improve himself in the NT.
Well, I agree Koroki is a good player who can run down the sideline well and make nice dribble occasionally. However those things can be achieved by Kagawa and Tamada (maybe Okubo as well). And unfortunately Koroki is obviouly not a real striker......his finishing is no more than mediocre. I mean... this guy is not unique for NT like Okazaki and Morimoto I would rather to see Hasegawa or Toyoda than Yano. Because I think Okada need someone to post in the area in some circumstances. Yano is not a posting guy despite his size.
Because there is better players than Koroki, and we don't need another striker that is not a scorer, there is Tamada and Tanaka aldready, even Okubo. I would like Okada to try some of the bigger , new guys that can fight in the air also.
One outsider could be Daigo Kobayashi , if he continues to play good in Stabaek and they qualify for the Champions League.
Yano? Who? I think all people who wanted to see him in the 23 should try to edit their messages . The guy is not enough good for international level and we all see that today.
Has anyone's opinions on their predicted squad changed, considering the recent form and dropping off of form in certain players? For instance, would Morishige and Nishikawa still be on some people's squads considering Oita's terrible performance this season?
I didn't choose any players who I seriously regret choosing now (I still rate Nishikawa highly), but if I could make a substitution in my squad, I would call up Ishikawa
Agree with your thoughts on Yano, but this thread is about who we predict will be in the squad, not necessarily who we actually want and unfortunately with his form at the moment, Okada may very well pick Yano as the token big striker in the squad, despite the fact that he's barely proven at J-league level, let alone international level
That was actually my reaction at the MCG, when he came on against the Socceroos. I couldn't remember who he was. I had to have one of the Japanese fans remind me. But that was more about me being senile than his performances. He didn't really provide much on the field, during that game, though. Very forgettable as a national team member.
Goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi Eiji Kawashima Defenders Yuji Nakazawa Marcus Tulio Tanaka Atsuto Uchida Yuto Nagatomo Michihiro Yasuda Tomoaki Makino Yuki Abe Midfielders Yasuhito Endo Makoto Hasebe Kengo Nakamura Shunsuke Nakamura Keisuke Honda Yōsuke Kashiwagi Shinji Kagawa Hideo Hashimoto Genki Haraguchi Forwards Shinji Okazaki Hisato Sato Takayuki Morimoto Sōta Hirayama
Line up: GK: Seigo Narazaki DF:Atsuto Uchida, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yuji Nakazawa, Yuto Nagatomo MF: Shunsuke Nakamura, Makoto Hasebe, Keisuke Honda, Yasuhito Endo, Shinji Kagawa FW: Takayuki Morimoto
Goalkeeper Narazaki Seigo Sogahata Hitoshi Kawashima Eiji Defender Nakazawa Yuji Tulio Tanaka Iwamasa Daiki Uchida Atsuto Nagatomo Yuto Makino Tomoaki Komano Yuichi Midfielder Hasebe Makoto Endo Yasuhito Honda Keisuke Ogawa Yoshizumi Yamase Koji Matsui Daisuke Ogasawara Mitsuo Konno Yasuyuki Kagawa Shinji Forward Okazaki Shinji Morimoto Takayuki Sato Hisato Koroki Shinzo
Ogasawara, Iwamasa, Sogahata.. I would agree with you 100% we were choosing the best squad but since this is a prediction on whom Okada will choose..
Yeah,it's obvious that many players on my list won't even get a call up to prove themselves before the World Cup but I hope at least that Okada gives better strikers a chance in the next friendlies and doesn't keep his trust on guys like Tamada,Okubo,Tanaka and Yano. In my opinion Okazaki Shinji is the only striker in Okadas squad who has the quality to score goals at international level.
My hopeful line-up ---------Morimoto------Maeda------------- -------Kengo-----------Honda------------- ----------Endo--------Inamoto------------ --Nagatomo-------------------Hasebe----- -------------Tulio----Nakazawa----------- -----------------Narazaki------------------