Japan vs. Korea 5/31/03 [R]

possible lineup by zico on an interview

gk
narazaki

df
hattori
morioka
akita
narahashi

mf
alex
ogasawara
fukunishi
inamoto

fw
suzuki
nakayama

my lineup
gk
narazaki

df
rwb narahashi
lwb k nakata
cb morioka
cb tsuboi

mf
ramf ishikawa (alex)
lamf ogasawara
dmf fukunishi
dmf inamoto

fw
suzuki
okubo

i want to see ishikawa start the game. ishikawa should be a good replacement of alex. would've been nice if abe joined for the first time and entertained us with his fk, like the one against costa rica. maybe after the olympic...

 

Ugh. Why are we still seeing Gon Nakayama and Kawaguchi? Are we waiting until after the Confed Cup to introduce younger players? At least Matsui and Okubo are in.

 

Morioka should be dropped. He's so slow and weak that he can never be a reliable player, and that's not good for the team to have such a useless central defender in the back.

Matsuda and Tsuboi would be better than Akita and Morioka.

And I wonder why Zico didn't stay Hirayama. Hattori is already on decline in speed and physique. He needs to test someone else because he's tested Hattori enough by now.

And I really don't understand why Zico didn't call Ichihara's Abe. I know the team already has Ono, Fukunishi, K.Nakata and Inamoto(Toda could be added later), but Abe is better than Ono as the central MF.

I like Gon Nakayama alot, but he's a type of a player that Zico should add right before the big games like Confederations Cup, Asian WC Qualifiers etc.

 

In addition to Song (Feyenoord), Lee YP and Park JS of PSV are unlikely to play due to their club commitment. That's a huge blow for Korea because our midfield lacks talent. And I don't understand why Choi Sung-kuk is out. He's the sensation in k-league at the moment.

 

ug...Takahara's not there again??

 

No Takahara, Ono, Nakamura or Nakata.

But in a way that will be good. Its time to take a look at some of the younger players, and Im sure Zico will be more interested in seeing certain players than in winning the match. After all he has an easy excuse to use if Japan loses, since it just makes the ledger even, after the win in Seoul.

I am confident that Okubo will play at least for one half. It would be nice to see him start, but I think Zico is a bit too conservative to go THAT far. I think Matsui might also play for 45 minutes. After all he was awarded the #10 jersey so that signifies that he should get at least some playing time.

My main interest is whether Ishikawa will play. He can really add lots of excitement. BTW Hama-chan, Ishikawa plays the right wing, not the left. Alex is a left wing.

As for the Korean side, do you think they will finally let Choi start this time? He is in great form recently and I dont know why he hasnt been given chances to start for the Korean side recently. It would be very interesting to see a J.League pair up front (Choi and Ahn). They might have more knowledge of how to beat the Japanese defenders than an overseas player like Seol.

 

c'mon mato don't be so picky. i knew where they play. i just rewatched the replay of all costaricau22, uruguay and korea games not long ago. my memory is still fresh where they played. last time when provisional squad was announced i even put alex in the left back.

anyways what do you think about abe? when it comes to freekick, he's definately super, but is he better than ono as yuke says?

 

i want to get rid of hattori, akita, and morioka immediately too. how's matsuda doing? i remember hearing he's been mentally struggling in the past couple of months.

 

wasn't he the one who got his first cap against Poland last year? (Japan won 2-0 at Poland)

I agree that Choi would be more effective than Seol in the game since Choi knows the Japanese style of playing better than Seol. However, I have a feeling that Seol might start as long as his condition isn't rock bottom. Coelho haven't seen many of the Euro leaguers play first hand that much so he probably would like to see Seol play.
Regardless, I think there is a way to see both play at the same time. Choi as up front, and Seol as the left wing/striker position could be the only way to see them both play at the same time.

The question of whether or not Coelho should continue his experimenting with the 4-2-3-1 formation is probably the biggest issue nowadays and will remain so for a long time added to the flat-4 defense-line.

 

One thing I wanna add is Abe is better than Ono as long as Ono is placed in the central midfield. When Ono playes in central midfield, he must be paired by a good defensive central MF to make up Ono's weak defense. But personally, I think it's good for Japan to have 2 all-round central MFs so that it gives the team more options and depth. Yet, Abe can be far better and needs to improve alot to take a Vierra's part in Japan.

 

No, that is i*C*hikawa. Its an easy mistake to make since both play the same position. However, Ishikawa is a lot better dribbler, and has more speed than Ichikawa (he also is almost two years younger). The only area where Ichikawa might be better is in defending, but in the case of Zico's 4-4-2 formation, the midfield wings dont need to do much defending.

 

Abe is still young and VERY inexperienced. There is a big reason why he isnt considered as one of the possible additions to the full NT, but Matsui and Ishikawa are. So what if he takes a good free kick. How many of those occur in a single match?

As for Yuke trying to compare him to Ono. Thats silly. Its true, Abe plays a deeper midfield position (he is volante, not a center midfield) than Ono. But as for defensive skill Ono is much more experienced, and more talented as well. If Abe were playing in Holland, an opponent like vanBommel would turn him inside out, and throw away the left over pieces.

As for his long term chances, thats a different story. I agree he has good potential, and as he develops his skills he might have a chance to make the full national team in 2 or 3 years. But right now, he isnt even in the same class as someone like Hattori or Oku. Much less a player like Ono.

 

I can't wait to see this game! The WC hosts fighting it out to be the best in the region will be exciting! These 2 sides have improved in leaps and bounds and are no push overs any more! I just wish that they could play Australia and possibly New Zealand in a 4 nations tournament. Wouldn't THAT be exciting as well! OOO I can't wait to hear the result!


Is this match confirmed or is it still a bit unsure?

 

I loved Ishikawa's cross to Nakata during World Cup against Tunisia, I still have a video of that play on my computer!

 

You mean Ichikawa of Shimizu, not Ishikawa of Tokyo?

 

What happened to Song Chong-gug? Is he injured or something?

Glad to see the game is on the 31st. I thought it was in June otherwise I wouldn't have been able to watch it.

 

yes
I should not post when I am half awake...........

 

he's not coming. I don't know the exact reason, but I would assume it's the injury part.

 

AHA! something in my mind made me ask you for assurance because there was something in the pronounciation that didn't seem familiar (I always thought the guy's name as IChikawa). Sounds like a player like IShikawa would be better for the Japanese NT especially when it's the 4-4-2.

 

choi sung guk is out due to injury and is haaving surgery on his foot in japan right now i believe

 

He can't come due to his club commitment. Feyenoord is having important match around 5/31/03. Probably the same reason why Ono can't come.

 

Song Chong-gug is taking part in Feyenoord's final in the Amstel Cup (the Dutch Cup). A pity he won't be coming.

With all due respect to Choi Young-soo, I know he's scored hat-tricks in the J-League recently, but the guy has no class finishing when it comes to important internationals. I still wonder why he gets called up. Perhaps he'll be a sub.

The nice part is that I was due to arrive in Korea on June 2. But since my visa worked out, I might be there on the 29th and just be able to get over jet-lag and watch it live on television in Korea. It's not as great as being given the opportunity to watch the match in a stadium. But when it comes to Korean international matches, unless they play a Latin American side (so it will be televised on Telemundo or Univision) or the World Cup, in America we have no chance to see the games. It's a step upward I guess.

 

Sang-chul Yoo is slowly recovering from the injury and he's named as the captain of the Korean team for the Korea vs Japan game.

His experience and play may be valuable, but I don't know if letting him play is a good idea. Afterall, he's still going through the rehabilitation program and just started to touch the ball. I just hope he doesn't get injured again.