not formaly announced yet but, could be this one : ------------- Narazaki K.Nakata------------------Matsuda -------------Morioka -------------H.Nakata Ono-----------------------Ichikawa ------Inamoto----------Toda ---Suzuki-------------Yanagisawa
this is not gonna happen. first of all we don't use 3-5-2 anymore. second of all zico realizes k nakata as midfielder, his true position in his club team kashima antlers third, both inamoto and toda are defensive midfielder. it could be possible that zico will use them as double volante but he will never use as offensive mf. fourth, yanagisawa is injured last of all, ichikawa won't even be called up. at this moment i have no idea how it looks like against uruguay and usa but as far as i've read we will bring the current best + some young talents.
Japan Roster As per CnnSI.com: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2003/03/17/japan_squad/ Japan squad: Goalkeepers -- Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Portsmouth, England), Takashi Shimoda (Hiroshima), Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya) Defenders -- Yutaka Akita (Kashima), Akira Narahashi (Kashima), Toshihiro Hattori (Iwata), Nobuhisa Yamada (Urawa), Ryuzo Morioka (Shimizu), Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (Osaka G), Naoki Matsuda (Yokohama), Keisuke Tsuboi (Urawa) Midfielders -- Takashi Fukunishi (Iwata), Hidetoshi Nakata (Parma, Italy), Alex (Shimizu), Shunsuke Nakamura (Reggina, Italy), Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima), Koji Nakata (Kashima), Junichi Inamoto (Fulham, England), Shinji Ono (Feyenoord, Netherlands) Forwards -- Naohiro Takahara (Hamburg, Germany), Takayuki Suzuki (Genk, Belgium), Teruaki Kurobe (Kyoto), Masashi Nakayama (Iwata)
That's about as good an A-squad from Japan as we'll see in all our friendlies, so I think we should bring in some good Euro players (JOB, Keller, maybe Berhalter) and some MLS veterans - both young and old (Hejduk, Stewart). I believe Zico and Japan mean business and we should as well, considering we're at home, they nearly dissed us by not wanting to play, and we could be facing a pro-Japan crowd in Seattle for this one. I for one would like to see us produce against a decent team outside of CONCACAF, we were all disappointed with our performance against our first non-CONCACAF foe this year (Argentina), and as such I will be expecting a much better outing this time. Finally, I think it's worth mentioning that playing against AFC teams will be of great benefit for us, considering that qualifying this time around might call for us (hopefully not) having to go through an AFC team, so we might as well give them a taste of what they might be expecting, and get a feel for their style of play.
Well that would make sense if you considered friendlies an end in and of themselves. My guess is Arena wants to test some new blood, but not in a way that throws a team with no cohesion out to be slaughtered. Which means I think you will see a few key Euros -- Keller, JOB and maybe Berhalter. I would expect to see MLS veterans like McBride in the lineup, but probably not those without a World Cup future like Stewart and Jones, who were not starters anyway when the USMNT fielded a full strength side.
No need to bring JOB a few thousand miles so he can sprain an ankle or knee. Let him stay in Ajax and get in shape for the cups this summer when the team will use him.
Is there a large Japanese contingent flying over for the game? While the Northwest has a large Asian population, I don't think it's to the point where a hostile crowd would be expected. Well, I'll be there supporting the U.S.!
There'll definitely be a strong contingent of Japanese fans, but the US fans will be a good majority IMO. I'd say 70/30? Anyone else have a feel for this? I hope we get a nice day like last years friendly and a good walk-up. Kevin
Most people in Japan don't really get all that excited about their national team matches. A lot of Japanese may watch the national team if they're on TV, but but they'd most likely opt for a baseball game or a Morning Musume Supercrazy English Lesson Dance Special if they were on at the same time. Without question, a small segment of Japanese society is pretty fired up about the game and follow it religiously (this "small segment" certainly outnumbers the soccer crazies in this country). That said, I doubt more than a handful of hardcore fans will be making the trip across the Pacific for a few friendlies. While there may be a few Seattle-based Japanese folks in the crowd, I anticipate a markedly pro-Nats crowd. my .02
As for the team... Japan also has share of defensive worries. While the distribution and runs out of the midfield are generally quite good, their backline is not known for its cohesion and crisp distribution. On the other hand, the mid/forward gang is pretty much the same group that played quite well during the World Cup. I don't know how the entire team has been performing, but I know that Nakata, Nakamura, and Takahara have been playing well for their Euro clubs. Bottom line: After a bunch of practices and a few games together, I would expect to see them control the ball well in the midfield, score at least two goals, and patch up some of their defensive troubles; nonetheless, their defense will give the U.S. some opportunities and a good target man like McBride could cause serious trouble on set plays.