End of 1H Japan 1-2 Uruguay 21' Recoba heads in the first goal for Uruguay 23' Suzuki brought down in the box. Nakamura converts from the spot. 25' Kawaguchi botches a corner. Lembo slots it in.
FT 2-2 Japan appeared to have had more chances, but I don't know. The play by play by Sanspo had a lot of lapses.
Japan definitely dominated the match, and apart from Kawaguchi's donkey-like play, they should have won 2-0 (or at least 2-1). Both goals were the fault of the keeper. Other than those two chances, Uruguay really didnt threaten much at all. Japan's strikers wer not that spectacular, but the midfield and defence played very well. Too bad Zico didnt start Narahashi or Sogahata. Oh well, I doubt we will be seeing any more of Kawaguchi. Full report at the RSN http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/nats/uruguay.html
Yeah, from what I'm reading on several sites Kawaguchi really sucked. Terrible result given the play of the others. He shouldn't be in goal for Japan again. He's had his chance and time in the spotlight. Now it's time to step aside.
what? is it over already? i thought the game was supposed to be played today. what day is today? sounds like kawaguchi bashing is starting. poor guy. i still like him though.
actually, Forlan scored the first goal... minor correction Looks like Japan pretty much had the match in control but Kawaguchi didn't do well. I've heard before that his weakness was in defending crosses... well looks like it came back to haunt him in Uruguay's second goal... But job well done. It's a friendly, and Japan can take pride in the fact that they played better!
Yeah, whoops. It was really early when I wrote that, 4 am. Diego Forlan scored the first. And yeah, he is weak at crosses and corners. Remember the game against Turkey in the WC it was... you guessed it, a header from a corner. Reports show that the MF was moving the ball well, even w/o the starters Ono and Nakamura.
I thought the game was Saturday too. Oops. I wondered about Kawaguchi starting too. You don't usually start someone who has spent the last year rotting on the bench and I had assumed Zico saw something in training. But unless he goes to a club where he can get regular action (or even if he does), his international career is over. I want to see the video of the match, but it sounds like Inamoto scored another one of his "come up from behind and pick up the loose ball" goals. Good for Ina. I know it's just a friendly, but it would be nice to see Japan win under Zico. But I guess we won't really see the team at full strength until the Confed Cup.
uruguay's red jersey sucks. why didn't we use the away kit so they could use their home kit which i like?
it's too bad that the game between US - Japan cancelled but, knowing the final result between Japan-Uruguay 2-2 it means that US would matematicaly have been defeated Japan because US defeated Uruguay in the last meeting between the two, so, i think the probable result would be US 2- Jap 0 (imaginary kinda result based on fact)
Japan's lineup: --------------Suzuki (Kurobe 76)-------Takahara----- -Nakamura (Santos 46)---------------------H. Nakata ----------------Ono (K Nakta 46)----Inamoto Hattori--------Akita----------Morioka--------Narahashi ------------------Kawaguchi---------------------------- Read here for the play-by-play (Japanese): http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/soccer/japan/live/jpn_20030328.html If you can't read Japanese, here's a rough translation of Zico's comments: "Since we had four days of practice this time, we were able to execute better than our last game. We allowed two goals, but that's soccer. But I am not concerned about the two conceded goals as I am happy about the two we scored. I was not as concerned about the attack because we have highly skilled players there, but as you might have expected, the defensive organization was the problem. Space opened up between the defensive midfielders and the backline so we must maintain balance and not rush too much."
Can't believe what's happened to Kawaguchi. He was so goddam awesome in Confed Cup 2001. Who would have thought Kawaguchi would become like this? Feels kinda funny to see the stars of both Korea and Japan become terrible after a couple years (Ko being too fat for Korean NT, AsianCup2000 Golden boot being nobody for Korean NT, and now Kawaguchi being "donkey-like" for Japanese NT)
From the Uruguayan press: La selección uruguaya de fútbol logró empatar con Japón 2-2 en un partido amistoso disputado en el Estadio Nacional de Tokio el viernes por la noche. Tres goles sobrevinieron en tres minutos vibrantes del primer tiempo. Diego Forlán abrió el marcador a los 22 minutos pero enseguida empató Shunsuke Nakamura de penal, y a los 25 Alejandro Lembo puso el 2-1 para Uruguay. Pero en la segunda etapa el héroe mundialista Junichi Inamoto decretó el empate definitivo. Inamoto, que hizo dos goles para la selección japonesa que avanzó a la segunda rueda en la Copa Mundial de Japón y Corea del Sur, empató poco después de la reanudación del partido. El futbolista del Fulham inglés recibió un pase de Hidetoshi Nakata, astro del Parma de Italia, y venció al arquero uruguayo Fabián Carini. Forlán abrió el marcador de cabeza al recibir un centro de Pablo Lima, y Nakamura, que juega para Reggina, empató de penal que el árbitro cobró por infracción contra Takayuki Suzuki. Lembo anotó su tanto al recibir una pelota perdida que llegó de un tiro de esquina y dobló las manos del golero local Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. Japón había empatado 1-1 con Jamaica en octubre en el debut de Zico, pero después perdió con Argentina 2-0 como local en noviembre. En esa ocasión Zico no estuvo presente porque asistió al funeral de su madre en Brasil. For those who don't read Spanish: The Uruguayan national team tied Japan 2-2 in a friendly match played at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Friday night. Three goals came quickly in three vibrant minutes of the first half. Diego Forlán opened the scoring after 22 minutes, but was followed by Shunsuke Nakamura equalizing from a penalty, and in the 25th minute Alejandro Lembo put Uruguay up 2-1. But in the second half, World Cup hero Junichi Inamoto scored the definitive equalizer. Inamoto, who scored two goals for Japan during their advance to the second round of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, scored shortly after the second half began. The Fulham player recieved a pass from Hidetoshi Nakata, a star for Parma in the Serie A, and beat Uruguayan goalkeeper Fabian Carini. Forlan began the scoring on a header from a cross by Pablo Lima, and Nakamura, who plays for Reggina, equalized from a penalty awareded after a foul on Takayuki Suzuki. Lembo notched his goal after collecting a ball that went loose following local goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi dropping a catch from a corner kick. Prior to this match, Japan had tied 1-1 with Jamaica in October on Zico's debut as manager, but then lost 2-0 at home to Argentina in November. On this occasion, Zico wasn't present because he was attending his mother's funeral in Brazil.