Japanese International Thread [R]

Japan is screwing up by not scoring more goals than Oman.
But, if they lose to Oman they don't deserve to advance anyway. Hopefully they are better than that.

 

ah.... I have other concerns as well for the game in Calcutta. Temperature, humidity, and foods (precisely, water) there... I hope they wouldn't get sick before the game. Can't they take their own catering around...? Wish they could do that.

 

Kyodo News Agency, via Reuters is reporting that Junichi Inamoto may be set to sign with West Bromwich Albion.

I think it's still a rumour at this point...

 

sorry tako, i'd been away and didn't read your post til now! It's cool you are emotional about the team -- it just means you support the team. I'm really not an expert at all on the Japan team, but I did study them with interest in the last few months (a Japanese pal even loaned me copies of past games). But to be honest, as much as I TRY to support Singapore for loyalty sake, it's hard to keep my energy level up! you can imagine... there's just not as much chances to get excited! I am keeping tabs on the Japan NT, and some of the other asia teams, now through the internet and videos from friends.

So, why was Yamada not put in the NT this time? what happened? was it an attitude thing? injury?

About Kaji vs Yamada, I can't say much. I think from what I've read and heard, Zico has just about everyone stumped when it comes to his choices (except for the obvious guys like Shusuke, et al.). But he does seem to follow a strange mix of reasoning for choosing who he does. He also I think likes to give players the chance to keep playing and get experienced/better as long as the team wins to retain some esoteric vibe within the team. Maybe Yamada's style doesn't mesh with the others as well? this is a coach who values the team balance and energy, so...? have you heard anything new?

 

hey maria_s, the food is taken care of -- I think, as usual, they will take a cook with them like they did to China, and I am pretty sure they will make sure to use only safe water (I assume bottled, or maybe boiled? or medicated?). I think this started when there was some suspicious illnesses among the Olympic team back when they played their qualifiers in the UAE. Half the team got really sick the day before the match and had to still play -- I think after that they made it a policy to take their own cook... I wonder if they have to take anti-malaria pills as well... or other such things...

India will be a very short trip -- they arrive on the 6th, play on the 8th, and leave right away. Temp and humidity, they'll just have to suck it up for a few days. It can't be that much worse than Chongking! !

 

realistically speaking, you're right; their gnashing teeth!! -- But I think there's something more important going on here... if Japan says that World Cup is the gaol that goes above everything else, they have to back it up with actions to fit the philosophy of respect and dedication to the team and their challenge of qualifying. Not only for the fans, but also for the pride of everyone on the team as well.

I read somewhere that Zico would never say "let this obviously great player relax now in this game against a crappy team, and we'll just put PlayerX in". He feels it's disrespectful to the World Cup, shows poor attitude towards the opponents, sets up a bad precedent for all players, and it's mostly disrespectful to the players who are subbing in.

also, I heard that Brazil I think had some controversy over a number of their main NTplayers (like Kaka!) not being selected for their next WCQ match because they did not show up for the thing in Haiti. That case is a little different, But it shows a similar attitude that perhaps Zico has...?

And Ono of all players would never let that happen. Even in this case, Ono chose to come a week early to join the rest of the team in Japan, instead of joining the day before match even when Zico gave him permission to arrive late. He wanted to join the team atmosphere, get acclimated with the heat/humidity in Japan, and do his best to be prepped for the match. Isn't this the kind of guy you'd want playing for your team?

 

speaking of India again, I was doing a little research on the India team, and found that the Japan/India game ticket prices are hugely separated depending on whether you are Indian or Japanese.... Like 10-50 rupees for Indians, in comparison to 1000 rupees for Japanese. Is it like this in any match? It never occurred to me before. I never thought there would be a ridiculous hike on prices like this...

 

i see what you mean about standard of living, but that doesn't mean that if you go to India, you pay 10 times the price for a bottle of soda in a local shop (unless the shopowner sees you coming and lies about prices), etc.... so conversely, if Indian fans come to Japan, do they pay 10% of the japan ticket prices? I mean, in the end, I don't really want to make a big deal... just that it was strange to me....

I don't know why yen is yen -- it could be that when you say it, it comes out sounding like "yen" -- like "sen^en" (a thousand yen).... not sure though...

 

yeh my girlfriend is going there with a couple other Japanese and said it was something like 100R for Indians and 1000 for Japanese.
will this stadium fill up? and how will the atmosphere be? I don't want her to be uncomfortable or in any danger..

 

that's interesting... I'm just worried of the monsoon-type rain -- anyone know what the weather is going to be like there this week?

 

i heard nakata h. will not be on the india game?

is zico nuts? or zico is not thrilled with how nakata's recent performance ?

 

It is said that it was originally, when written, ヱン not エン. Because ヱ belongs to Y line (? や行, i mean), they put "y" before "en" .... datte-sa! But I also heard (or in my dream??), a name "yen" itself came from somewhere else (somewhere in China?? Russia? i don't remember), and from the beginning, it was yen, and simply, character 円 was just applied to "yen" in Japan. Or, that "yen" sounded like 円 so they chose to write as yen, sort of....

 

Nakata Hide is not recovered yet. Zico has no choice, I thought.

 

Oh, no. Now Shunsuke is out too...

 

This Japanese team is so strange -- everytime one player is starting to show they have started to ride a good wave, they get hurt or something. It happened with Kubo, with Tamada, with Ina, with Tsuboi, with Shunsuke, with Narazaki, etc... Nakata is obviously always considered a necesasry member to the team, but hasn't played since the spring when he developed a groin injury that's nagged him all summer.

But the ironic thing is that when everyone was available for the Oman and Singapore matches for WCQ, the team was quite awful (though this had more to do with the fact that there were internal problems with the team -- ie. players not able to practice together until the day before match).

Shunsuke's absence is a big hole; everyone finally got in sync with his style and thinking, and now he's out. How many times does this team have to reinvent itself?!

 

Hello!? Anybody home?? Where are you guys now?? vs India is starting soon.. where the humidity is 91%....

 

Hi guys i am following the India vs Japan match now

live updates are on this links

http://www.eastbengal.tk/
www.indianfootball.com

Btw i am indian, and the attendance says 85,000

 

Japan up 4-0!

I would be disapointed but Oman won 2-0, so its not like we are losing any goal differential.

 

Hey, Nick! Where were you!?

Maybe you haven't seen the game yet. But if you see, you'll find lots "NAN-DA KORYA?" ... bad referee, bad stadium. And from the beginning, there was no clock!! Fujita almost got the red by mistake....

 

this is just an indication that the "Road to Germany" is never going to be easy -- bad refereeing is going to follow good teams around like they did in the Asia Cup, the heat might let off for countries that have a "winter", but not in the Middle East, rain, injuries, and Europe-club players not being able to make it until right before the game or even not showing up (in this case like Nakamura or Yanagisawa), and so on. Coupled with security issues, water/food-poisoning, blackouts like tonight, management of the stadium (like bad turf condition, clock/mechanical issues, etc.), and the list goes on. Just when you think you've thought of everything that could go wrong, something new pops up! The most scary is that these teams like Japan (and other good teams) will be victims to a lot of bad/rough play by the opponents as they get more tired and desperate to score. The attack on Nakazawa and the kick to the head of Kawaguchi were scary.

as far as the game went, what did you guys think?

I thought it was interesting to have Nakamura out of the game, just to see what kind of play would ensue. Having Motoyama there definitely changed the design of the play, and though Takahara didn't make the impression he should have, there was a lot of passing that we haven't seen in a while. Kubo did not goal, but he positively contributed in a number of situation with good reading of the passing -- it was intesting to find that he passed the ball to Alex instead of trying a shoot in the 3rd point. Alex was pretty awful, but he was saved by the fact that he was involved in a couple of the goals (probably why Zico insists on keeping him on). I would really have liked to see MiuraA put in. The goal by Miyamoto was also interesting because he hasn't been up near the goal like that in an official tournie game in a while, much less scored a point. It was also telling that without Nakamura, there was only one goal scored from a deadball situation, but perhaps this was a nice indication that Japan can score in-play without always depending on him.

 

Great knowledge and nicely articulated. Wish the China team had a fan like you. China just beat your neighbor Malaysia 1:0, in a closely contested game. By the way if you have any insight to share, feel free.

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130694&page=30&pp=15